The Dorothy Almond Memorial Lecture 2017 will be held on Sunday March 5th 12pm at Ormskirk Parish Church.

Eminent Professor of International Eye Health, Allen Foster, returns to his home town to deliver the Lecture entitled ‘The Gift of Vision’. It will be followed by a Mission Lunch in aid of Christian Blind Mission; the lecture is given in honour of Sister Dorothy Almond MBE who devoted her life to mission in Tanzania and translated the New Testament into Swahili.

Stuart Haynes from the Parish Church told QLocal this morning: “Dorothy was a wonderful example of Christian living much loved and respected with all in the church. She was also a personal inspiration. Her life story was fascinating her love and dedication to the people of Tanzania was simply amazing. So it is an honour and pleasure that our church can welcome her nephew Allen Foster to deliver what I am sure will be a fascinating and informative lecture”.

Allen attended Ormskirk Grammar School , this was followed by an Honours degree in Medicine, by work in Tanzania, being Medical Director of CBM – the former Christian Blind Mission - which led to an award of an OBE by the Queen in 1997 and then to his current role at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a past President and Chief Executive of CBM International based in Germany. Allen vividly remembers the support he received in his early years from ‘Aunty Dorothy’ and so it is highly appropriate that he has agreed to speak and describe the need for the Ormskirk Parish Churches Lent Project ‘Combating Childhood Blindness in Tanzania‘ a project to be based at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.

Dorothy was born at Charity Farm, Westhead before the family moved to Moss House Farm near the Kicking Donkey and she was a student at Cross Hall School and Southport Technical College. She attended the Parish Church and its Youth fellowship, joined the Church Army and after serving in Nottinghamshire sailed to Africa taking six weeks having never left England and not knowing the language.

Sister Dorothy Almond lived in Tanzania for thirty one years prior to retirement in the UK. She became fluent in the local language, Swahili. In fact she found herself thinking in that language and then having to convert it to English. In retirement she wrote in Swahili and spent ten to twelve years working on the whole of the New Testament in Swahili. This work is available in print today. She was ‘Sister’, ‘Mama Fupi’ the Swahili word for short or ‘Mama Piki Piki’ a reference made to the sound of her little motorbike that she travelled about on. Dorothy was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 1989.

Tickets priced at £10.00 for the Lecture and Mission Lunch in support of the CBM are available from the Church Office ring 01695 573350 e: office@ormskirkparishchurch.org.uk.

For more on the work of CBM, click here: http://www.cbm.org/