Awards 2018

Mrs Jan Conti - Tiwi

Nominated by Mrs Sue Dibbs 

Seconded by Neil Dibbs

Nominated by Mrs Judy Wright 

Seconded by Mrs Catherine Weber

Jan has been a member of Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise for 18 years.

During this time she was involved in the many voluntary projects that Rotary clubs do.

• She was always willing to volunteer for any of the many fundraising projects, collecting money at Gardens Fair, helping at shows, selling raffle tickets at Parap markets etc.

• Jan has been made an Honorary Life Member of The Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise for her outstanding achievements to the community.

• Jan's greatest contribution was to be a volunteer for ROMAC, (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) an Australian Rotary project which involves bringing children mainly from Timor Leste to Australia for life saving or dignity restoring medical assistance which is not available in their country. This involved meeting flights from Dili and getting a mother and sick child on to a flight to another destination in Australia or New Zealand. Jan also met them on their return flight, usually involving being at the airport at midnight and bringing them to her house for a few hours sleep then returning them the next day for their flight to Dili.

• In recent times many children are being treated at RDH. Jan took them to and from the hospital, visiting them in hospital when they had extended periods (1 can't remember the exact time but one little boy was here for 3 or 6 months.

• Jan took it upon herself to arrange interpreters, liaise with medical staff and provide meals at all times of the day and night - she even had cards made up with "may I have a drink of room temperature water" (because they don't have cold water), "could 1 please have a blanket" etc in both languages for the crew on the aircrafts.

• After 15 years of volunteering, Jan has had to retire from this task as driving at night; lifting suitcases and being up all hours of the night were becoming difficult. The decision to retire from ROMAC took a lot of soul searching as her reward for this work was to see a child who was desperately ill, return to Timor happy and well. Jan has also been acknowledged by ROMAC with several Certificates of Appreciation.

Jan is also a devoted Grandmother and a wonderful friend to many.