The Accra East regional council and court of the knights and ladies of Marshall in conjunction with the Marshallan Relief and Development Services, (MAREDES) an NGO wing of the Noble Order have made a donation of books worth 1 million cedis to deprived schools in the Greater Accra region.

The publications cover science, mathematics, social studies, reading and reference materials.

The books were handed to the beneficiaries on Monday at a ceremony held in the Marshallan temple at East Legon in Accra.

The donation is a fulfillment of a promise made by the leadership of the order about two years ago when it decided to embark on a book project aimed at providing reading materials to some less endowed schools in the Greater Accra Region.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Accra East Regional Grand Knight, worthy Brother Samuel Kinsford Arthur said the books were acquired through "Books For Africa" a United States based organization and the largest shipper of donated text and library books to Africa.

He said with the support received from Books For Africa, the order intend to advance knowledge, bridge the literacy and create a culture of literacy by providing the tools of empowerment to the next generation of parents, teachers and leaders in Ghana.

For his part, the executive director of MAREDES Sir Knight Derx Baffour said the NGO has opened various shades of chapters charactering it's activities. According to him the activities have underscored the objectives for which the organization was established. Thus to provide relief and development services consistent with the tenets of the noble order.

Mr. Baffour said as far as the donation is concerned, MAREDES has further deepened and strengthened it's commitment to the educational needs of society.

In all, 20 schools comprising public, private, Catholic and non Catholic basic schools as well as senior high schools benefited from the donation. Similar donations are to be carried out in the Western, Central, Northern and Upper West regions of the country.

The Noble Order of Knights and Ladies of Marshall is a Catholic friendly society founded in 1926 with two primary objectives. First, to bring Catholic men and women together for effective lay apostolate and Catholic action and to provide a friendly social forum for Catholics who might otherwise be attracted to non-Catholic societies.

The Order was named after Sir. James Marshall an English Judge of the then Gold Coast whose relentless efforts led to the re-founding of the Catholic Church in the country in 1880 after nearly 250 years of the breakdown of the first attempt at establishing it.