< Malawi Archives – Page 5 of 8 – Mamie Martin Fund

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The power of working together

We are pleased to share this guest blog post from Denis Robson, Chair of the Thondwe Community Partnership, another Scotland-Malawi link:

“As a long-standing member of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, we regularly meet with organisations that are equally passionate about programmes in health, education, and economic development. As we were expanding our collaboration with Thondwe Primary school we were thrilled when a networking opportunity brought us into contact with Moira Dunworth who was very willing to share the Mamie Martin Fund (MMF)’s knowledge and expertise in girls’ education in Malawi with us. As a very small team looking to seek out others with a common aim, our connection with MMF provided an opportunity to rapidly learn, improve outcomes and avoid duplication.

The girls heading to secondary school in 2022, supported by the Thondwe Community Partnership

By collaborating we can increase the exposure needed to grow girls’ education in Malawi and as we gain experience perhaps we can combine knowledge to help solve problems together. We quickly discovered that we needed to do more than pay school fees to ensure successful educational outcomes. Your Ready to Learn Fund is essential. Our GET-IT (Girls’ Education in Thondwe) programme now has 5 girls. Apatseni, Debora, Brenda, Mary and Margaret successfully completing their first year at a local Community Day school and a Boarding school. Learning from your experience, we are setting up a mentorship programme. The first step of this is that the Head Teacher of Thondwe Primary school, Annie Siyani, will mentor these 5 girls as part of our Partnership’s support.”

It is a joy for MMF to be able to share our experience and to discuss these issues with like-minded people in Scotland and Malawi. We are delighted to have been able to help the Thonde Partnership with the planning of GET-IT. We wish their pupils every success.

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Gift Aid is a win-win arrangement

We really appreciate all donations and those which are gift-aided provide an extra boost to our funds. As we start a new tax year, we thought it might be helpful to remind you of what Gift Aid is and what the rules are.

Adding Gift Aid to your donations means that, as a charity, we can claim an extra 25p for every £1 you give. It will not cost you any extra. Free money. What is not to like?

You can only do gift-aid on donations for which you receive no benefit, so it can’t be a payment for goods or services. We can claim it on donations for our gift cards because you, the donor, are not getting the school uniform or pens, etc..

You need to make a Gift Aid declaration for us to be able to claim. As long as you tick a box about future donations, you only need to make the declaration once. Our gift aid declaration is now online, though we can always send you a paper form. If you are a regular donor, it is most likely that we already have a completed declaration from you – you could always get in touch to check if you wish. When you donate through JustGiving, they collect the Gift Aid on our behalf.

Do I pay enough tax to Gift Aid donations?

Your donations will qualify as long as they’re not more than 4 times what you have paid in tax in that tax year (6 April to 5 April). The tax could have been paid on income tax or capital gains but no other form of tax applies.

If you pay tax at a rate above the basic rate, you can claim the difference between the rate you pay and the basic rate on your donation. Win-win.

Thanks to all our donors for their loyal support, whether they can include gift aid or not. Without you we would not be able to support girls at school in North Malawi.

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Brian’s first Borders22 adventure

MMF Trustee and Chair of The Soko Fund, Brian Kerr, cycled from Stranraer to Berwick-upon-Tweed last week. He covered 199 miles and most of that was into a strong headwind. It is widely accepted that no matter the direction of the prevailing wind, it will be in your face when cycling. Brian sent us pictures and comments along the way and now shares this reflection on the trip.

“I am riding down this flat road nearing journey’s end, sun on my back, plenty juice in the battery, westerly wind blowing me along .. all just about as good as it gets.

And I am thinking-just how lucky am I …what did I do that I get all this fun and freedom, fulfilment etc etc etc …?

And when it’s this good I also find I am thinking of all the MMF /Soko girls (and the rest) who have to fight and struggle, on and on, just to get a decent education, and some better life chances.

So I’m thinking : go straight to that Justgiving page and give them a wee boost, just as soon as you get home! Think about doing the same – even though you haven’t had all the fun (oh, and pain btw) that I have had these last few days.”

While Brian writes about the final day in good weather and with a following wind, his other days where quite hard in terms of sleet and a very cold headwind. You can give him a shout-out with a small donation here.

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Borders22 launched today

Today we launch our 2022 fundraiser – Borders22. Find your national, local, county, district, country, provincial BORDER and off you go – all in support of girls’ education in Malawi, your good health and, most of all, having some fun.

We are delighted to be one of the two beneficiaries of the royalties from Dr Alasdair Allan’s book about the Scotland-England border. That lovely gesture sparked the idea for Borders22.

From today you can upload your trips along with any stories or photos. You can email them to Moira if you prefer. The project runs until 30th September so you have plenty of time to plan adventures!

People are already planning walks, both on location and virtual, cycle rides, scoots and all sorts. Join in the fun. Let us know what you are planning and we will help you to publicise it.

You can set up a fundraising page here. Donations to the Borders22 fund are always welcome too.

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The Mamie Martin kiltwalk team

We are delighted to introduce you to the Mamie Martin team in the Glasgow Kitwalk on 24th April. They will walk 14.5 miles from Clydebank to Balloch. They are:

Intrepid leader and Kiltwalk veteran, Mariot Dallas. Mariot has obviously forgotton how sore her feet were after last year’s Kiltwalk!

Angela Drummond is a newbie to the Kiltwalk but a longstanding MMF friend and supporter.

Violet Hejazi, is a steadfast MMF supporter, normally on a bike. Violet, from Syria, is a law student at the University of Stirling and likes a challenge. Her life has already had more challenges than most people will ever encounter but she is up for the Kiltwalk.

With Violet is her sister, Simone, nephew, Sa’ad (11), and niece, Yara (10). They are being lent kilts by SlanjKilts, one of the Kiltwalk sponsors.

Violet is also bringing her friend, Sudhir Ghildiyal, who is a hotelier in Glasgow and his profile pic suggests that he might be handy on a building site too.

We wish them all a fun day. Heidi and Moira will be a mini support team on bikes, to fetch and carry as the walkers need. Watch out on the 24th April for updates all day and training updates before that.

The team page is here, from which you can access each of the fundraising pages. Remember, the Tom Hunter Foundation will top up all donations by 50% again this year. So this is an efficient way to donate a few pounds to girls’ education in Malawi.

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Why be a Mamie Martin Fund Trustee?

MMF’s Co-convenor shares some ideas about trusteeship of our little organisation, with thanks to all those who contributed to this list.

  1. Educating and empowering girls helps to save the planet. See BBC Radio 4 – 39 Ways to Save the Planet, Educating and Empowering Girls
  2. The Scotland -Malawi and Malawi-Scotland relationship is strong and well supported by our governments. As a Trustee you will be playing your part in a lively and vibrant country to country partnership 
  3. We are a working Board, so you will have the opportunity to use your existing skills and experience as well as learning new skills
  4. We use digital resources to work and communicate as efficiently as possible and to save time
  5. Your work will be interesting, you will learn a lot and will never be bored
  6. You will never be short of conversation topics, or material for interviews and applications
  7. You will give your time and energy, but you will know that you are helping to make a difference. See Number 1 above.

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Pledge 100 on the home straight

As 2021, the year where we commemorated the centenary of Jack and Mamie’s arrival in Malawi, draws to a close, we are happy to be able to give you an update on one of this year’s successful fund-raising initiatives: #Pledge100.

This project got off to a fantastic start in January when our first pledger, Shona, started on her 100 5km runs. After that, 35 enthusiastic pledgers joined from as far afield as North America, Germany, Sweden, Hungary, Portugal and Oman. And of course, closer to home the UK was well represented by swimmers, cyclists, photographers, hoolahoopers, walkers, yoga practitioners, language learners, card creators, bulb planters and music sharers. One of our artistic pledgers in Sweden has actually undertaken 3 lovely pledges and has now completed 300 drawings!

As well as having a good time, the aim of #Pledge100 was to raise awareness of the work that Mamie Martin Fund does to support girls in secondary education in Malawi. The pledgers did a great job of updating us on their progress by sharing photos and posts on social media. As one of the pledgers said, “I’m at number 76 of my Pledge 100 and it’s been a fun way to engage with my social media friends about the work of the Mamie Martin Fund.”

As 2022 approaches some pledgers have decided to carry on and complete their pledges next year, while so far 21 have received their certificates of completion. The best news of all is that currently the total raised by our pledgers stands at a magnificent £8,700. A huge thank you to everyone who took part in this challenge and to the generous sponsors who supported them. Donations can still be accepted at https://mamiemartin.org/donate/

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Congratulations to ‘Best Student’ Hannah – MMF ex-pupil

Hannah was an MMF beneficiary at Elangeni Secondary School from 2011 to 2015. Her parents had divorced, her father remarried with new responsibilities and Hannah’s mother could not afford her school fees. The school put Hannah on the MMF list and, with her worries gone, she worked hard and obtained excellent results in her Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE).

Hannah with her Certificate of Achievement


Hannah now is in her final year at the University of Malawi studying BSc in accounting with sponsorship from the Soko Fund. She has dreamed of working as an accountant since she was in Level 5 in primary school. She has always loved solving financial issues and therefore, thinks accounting and she are perfectly suited for one another. She believes that her career will shape her to have wide knowledge in fund management which will be a tool that she will use in giving skills to young Malawian women on how to manage their finances in setting up small scale businesses that would allow them to do their own thing rather than depend on government for employment.


Both MMF and Soko are so proud to learn that Hannah has been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for “outstanding performance in academic excellence” in the 2021 round of ‘Best Student Awards’ made annually by TotalEnergies Malawi, a major company focusing on sustainable energy.

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MMF, Soko Fund and David Livingstone Centre come together in a bike ride

Bike2Malawi rider, Brian Kerr is Chair of the Soko Fund and a Trustee of the Mamie Martin Fund. He has a new e-bike and was keen to give it an outing. He also wanted to see the newly-refurbished David Livingstone Birthplace which reopened on 28th July. Closed for four years to undergo major refurbishment, the new museum exhibition re-introduces us to David Livingstone, focusing more than has been previously done on those around him. He was not really the ‘lone explorer’ of the previous versions of that history.  

So Brian set off in the sunshine from Edinburgh to Blantyre. He recalls: “The sun was much too bright for a decent picture (by me anyway). It was a lovely ride-such an interesting variety of countryside and old industrial stuff and the West Lothian mining villages.

Some of the traffic on the roadside paths was not nice – but the canal beyond Coatbridge – you could imagine yourself in La France profonde!! (until the path comes to an abrupt end and you are lost of course!!).  

Dr. Livingstone, who WALKED from his home here in Blantyre to Africa – apart from the sea, obviously – is still revered by many in Malawi. On the day I visited the cafe was only open until 3 pm – imagine my feelings arriving on a very hot day at 2.59. Staff were exceptionally kind to an old man!”

Last year’s MMF biking project, Story on Bikes, was launched at the Centre, even though it was still closed at the time. On #Bike2Malawi we stopped off at Mary Livingstone’s grave – Dr Livingstone’s wife. So we feel a strong bond with this Centre and are glad that Brian made it there and back (just) on the battery of the new e-bike. He has in mind to visit Dunluce Castle in Ireland; Mamie and Jack Martin sailed to Africa in its namesake in 1921. So watch this space for his report on that trip.

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Wendy Norman writes about why she is ‘biking to Malawi’

“As a now semi-retired Gynaecologist, I was very privileged, in 2016, to travel to Nkhoma Hospital in Malawi with the Scotland-Malawi team to contribute in a small way to their phenomenal programme of cervical screening and cervical cancer prevention. We have helped to introduce practical but effective treatment of pre-cancer, as originally pioneered by my predecessor, Dr Ian Duncan, in Dundee. I was bowled over by the camaraderie, dedication and expertise of the local Malawian teams who continue to work so effectively under such challenging conditions.

Since my return we have all continued to ‘virtually’ support work in Malawi and worldwide as much as possible but clearly any plans for return visits to that wonderful country have now been deferred and overshadowed by the COVID pandemic.

Meanwhile it is heartbreaking to hear of increasing numbers of young girls now obliged to leave school due to the economic effects of the pandemic. These young girls then become teenage brides and mothers, thus repeating the cycle of inequity. If we are ever going to work our way towards a fairer world, we have to educate girls and young women. Educating girls allows them to make safe choices about their own reproductive health and, in time, that of their children and families. It also allows them to become financially independent and enter the workforce as the hundreds of nurses, teachers, doctors & scientists Malawians need to become equal partners in delivering anywhere near the standards of health care that we in the UK take for granted

I therefore jumped at the chance with #Bike2Malawi to jump on my bike and raise funds for secondary education in Malawi. We have to keep girls in school, and it is something practical I can do to help whilst constrained to the UK. So far, I have cycled almost 300 of my 350 mile target.

I won’t lie – it has been tougher than I thought – 5-6 miles a day sounds fine until you inevitably miss a day then have to do 12…. Then 18…. And I have been on holiday for 3 of the 9 weeks of the fundraiser (not always with a bike) so have had to do some mammoth rides to catch up. We are so lucky though to have such wonderful scenery to cycle through both here in Scotland and across the UK. I have been joined on my rides by both daughters and various friends and family, so it has been good exercise and good fun. I am truly humbled by the response of my family, friends and colleagues to my fund-raising efforts, which I know reflects their understanding of how much this all means to me. Good luck to all those cycling the 10,679 miles and I hope we all meet in person one day. Thank you to the Mamie Martin Fund for making this possible and to all those doing the groundwork to facilitate this fundraising; it is an incredible effort all round.”

Wendy has raised over £500.00 so far and her page is https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/WendyNorman

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