Our mission is to advance the education of young women and girls in North Malawi in secondary schools operated by the Synod of Livingstonia, Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), and other educational institutions.
Based in Scotland, we provide money for school fees for girls who have gained a place at one of our partner schools in Malawi, but who cannot afford to pay the fees. In 2023-24 we are supporting 120 girls across seven secondary schools including 15 girls at a school for Deaf children.
The Mamie Martin Fund is managed by a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for the governance and strategy of the charity, as well as ensuring that it is administered effectively. The charity relies on the help of a number of volunteers and the indispensible work of our Malawi Country Director, Mercy Sibande. We rely on private donations to fund our work.
Who was Mamie Martin? Mamie Martin and her husband, Jack, were Scottish missionaries to Bandawe and Ekwendeni in what was then Nyasaland, in Central Africa. Mamie spent much of her time supporting girls and women to continue the education that was cut short at school because the girls were needed in the home. Then, as now, family resources were spent on the education of sons before their sisters’ education was considered. Mamie was outraged at this injustice and set up her own classes in local villages. Jack and Mamie are still remembered today in North Malawi and their story is vividly told in Salt and Light, the book by their daughter, Margaret, based on their letters and diaries. In the photos below we see Mamie at her graduation in 1915 and her daughter, Margaret, being christened.
Margaret, Mamie’s daughter, was born in Malawi in 1927, but Mamie died in 1928, giving birth to her second child. A visit to Malawi in 1991 by Margaret and her husband, John, lit the spark for this charity, which was set up in 1993 after discussion with Malawian friends. In partnership with local (Malawian) education providers, the Mamie Martin Fund has supported more than 700 girls through their secondary education in Malawi. These girls are already passing on this benefit to the next generation and to Malawian society, a lasting legacy in memory of a remarkable woman.