W Bro Geoff Ferguson and his wife Judi thought they had completed their task of helping schools and children in Fiji but it seems one more invitation could not be resisted.
After giving practical and financial help over a long period of time with visits to Fiji, they accepted an invitation to assist a kindergarten with 300 children, one class each of 150 in the morning and the afternoon.
‘We have worked with the headmaster Nitya Gounder at two other schools and W Bro Sitivini Yaqona from Lodge Fiji has also been a great help. The lodge supports a lot of schools and school children in Fiji and has advised us where help was needed,’ said W Bro Ferguson.
He also spoke about a visit to the original capital city of Fiji – Levuka on the island of Ovalau to see the original lodge building which was destroyed by fire in 1987.
He said the temple was finished off in the highest quality Fiji hard wood but the ceilings, walls, floor boards, all the history of the lodge with minutes covering 110 years were all lost. He visited the local library to seek information regarding the lodge building but was unable to get any details and had to leave without any information on the lodge or the building.
‘Levuka has a national heritage order over it and nothing can be altered so the lodge building will remain as it is forever,’ he said.
W Bro Ferguson said there are parts of the history of Freemasonry that have been forgotten for over 300–400 years and this is the base we came from.
‘The early history was never explained to us, perhaps one lodge member should be helped in learning different parts of early Freemasonry and another member another part. To me the history of the lodge was the most important part but sadly I was unable to learn very much as no one seemed to be interested.
W Bro Ferguson commented: ‘The destruction of the building in Levuka shows that physical masonic history can easily become lost and the Grand Master’s Task Team should be congratulated in their efforts to Preserve our significant regional buildings and much of our masonic culture.’
Article extracted from Freemason magazine, September 2019, page 34.