The Provincial Grand Lodge of Ross and Cromarty under the leadership of the Provincial Grand Master, Ramsey McGhee decided that although the old adage 'charity begins at home' has some merit, there are places far worse off than we in this country and so... 

When Henry Cameron told his grandchildren that he was going out to Malawi and would be visiting a school for deaf children, half of whom were orphans, his granddaughter Annabel’s first reaction was to say that he could take her pocket money with him to help the children.

However, the more she learned about the trip, the more she and her brother Cameron were determined to help the less fortunate children in Mountain View School for the Deaf.  The trip is being organised by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ross and Cromarty so Annabel wrote to Lodge Fingal asking for permission to hold a coffee morning in their Dingwall Lodge Room and what a coffee morning it turned out to be.  Annabel and Cameron Brown, both pupils at Strathpeffer Primary School, this week handed over the magnificent sum of £1330 to the Provincial Grand Master, Ramsay McGhee, to help buy some of the items that are desperately needed by the school.

Ramsay McGhee said – “ We in the Province are absolutely overwhelmed by the efforts of Annabel and Cameron.  Through their efforts alone, it will mean that we can give so much more to the children at Mountain View School when we visit them in April.  It is highly likely that the money raised by Annabel and Cameron will enable us to buy 300 chickens for the school which will allow the staff and pupils to work toward self sufficiency”.

Further fund raising events are being planned, the major one being a Race Night on 14^th March in the Seaforth Club in Fortrose.  The school with which the Province are forging a link, was started some 10 years ago by Catholic Missionaries and currently has 170 pupils, half of whom are orphans. Over the past 10 years it has mainly been the Catholic Church in Holland who have supported it.  Local Freemasons in Blantyre have indicated that despite the valiant efforts of the Church, the school is in dire need of help. Hence the reason that the Ross-shire Freemasons are heading out to Malawi to render whatever assistance they can in April. Ramsay McGhee explained – “There is an urgent need for hearing-aids, batteries, tools, stationary items and livestock.  It is our intention to provide as much as we possibly can to ease the burden under which the staff and children at the school constantly live. This tremendous boost to our fund raising activities by Annabel and Cameron will certainly help us to realise our aim”. The Deputation from the Provincial Grand Lodge of Ross and Cromarty will head out to Malawi on 16 April.

During the trip to Malawi, the Ross-shire Brethren will also have the privilege and pleasure of installing the new RWM of Lodge David Livingstone No 1162, Bro Ravindra S Kamath into office.