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Visit to Malawi after 50 years

Emyln and Ann Evans lived in Malawi for 3 years in the 1970s. Emlyn worked for Malawi Railways. They revisited Malawi recently. They share their thoughts about that visit.

L-R: Mercy Sibande, Joana Chimphepo, Ann, Emlyn, Dickens Msukwa at MCDSS

“We lived in Limbe, Southern Malawi, in the 1970s. We were close friends of Jack and Phyllis Thomson, and around 13 years ago we asked them to recommend a Malawi charity we could support – they came up with The Mamie Martin Fund, and we have supported the Fund ever since.

After much dithering, we at last decided it was time to re-visit Malawi. So … in October/November this year we visited Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Blantyre. With the wonderful help of Moira, Mercy and Gregory [Mercy’s husband], we were able to visit two schools in the North in order to see at first hand the impact of the Mamie Martin Fund on girls’ education. We saw far more of real Malawi in those weeks than we ever did in the 3 years we lived there in the 70s. We were part of an ‘expatriate’ community back then.

Kwezy buses eventually delivered us to Mzuzu and so we firstly went to see Mchengautuba Community Day School, in a poor suburb of Mzuzu. We were warmly greeted by the Head, Mr Dickens Msukwa, and Mrs Joana Chimphepo, who looks after the MMF girls there. They explained the many challenges the school faces, these include oversubscription and finding funds to complete the building of the much-needed hall. They then arranged a very lively Q & A session with the MMF girls. Then two of the liveliest girls suddenly said “Right – would you like to see around the school?” Linda and Grace then gave us the full belt and whistles tour – we left humbled by such a wonderful welcome, and having seen with our own eyes the result of MMF funding.

Ann was also overwhelmed by the generous gift of a wrap (chitenje), when the school has so little compared to schools in the UK.

The following day, with Mercy, we visited Bandawe Girls’ Secondary School, near the Lake. Again we were shown every consideration, and warmly welcomed by Mrs Rachel Msumba, the English teacher. We discussed the challenges the school faces, and then had another lively Q and A session with the MMF girls – one question was – “ In Malawi our main activity is agriculture – what is the main activity in UK?” Great question … well, what is our main activity? Having stumbled through an answer to that, we had to explain a free Health service to these pupils.

We again left, humbled by the dedication and hard work of all the staff. At both schools we witnessed the wonderful work Mercy is doing mentoring and supporting the girls, whatever their needs.

Later that day we visited the nearby graves of Mamie Martin and her baby – an immensely moving experience.

We are so grateful to Moira, Mercy and Gregory, and all the staff we met for arranging such enlightening experiences. We were able to see clearly what the Mamie Martin Fund is achieving. We thank all at MMF for giving us this opportunity.

(Our visit did coincide with a severe petrol shortage, but we still managed to move around.)”

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International Literacy Day

8 September is International Literacy Day, a cause that is very close to the heart and work of the Mamie Martin Fund. From our roots in the 1920s when Mamie Martin became aware of the barriers facing girls in education to 32 years later, when we are now able to support 163 girls across 7 schools, we work to improve equal access to secondary education in North Malawi.

Improved literacy and life-long learning, particularly for girls and women, is part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Globally girls and women are disadvantaged due to  gender inequality, cultural expectations, family responsibilities, child marriage, living far away from schools and lack of sanitary provisions. This is certainly the case in Malawi.

Reducing gender inequalities through education empowers girls and women and has a real impact on their life outcomes by enabling them to participate in the work force and improve their family’s economic situation, nutrition and health. Literacy for women helps to break the cycle of poverty and they can become role models for their communities. Educated women are more likely to pass on the benefits of their life skills and ensure their own children complete their education.  

Reflecting on the impact of the work of MMF Mercy Sibande, our Malawi Country Director, says

“Secondary school has allowed girls to critically think and at least make some changes in the way they deal with situations ..without it they would just have been that uneducated girl at the village.”

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Celebrating our volunteers

This week is National Volunteers’ Week in the UK. We thank our many volunteers for their time and energy. Our small charity runs on volunteer time – from Trustees, to admins, to marketing, to fundraisers. Our only paid staff is in Malawi. 

collage of photos of people in yellow teeshirts

Our non-Trustee volunteers keep things going behind the scenes. Many of the Trustees take on extra tasks such as marketing (thanks to Francesca in particular). Volunteers James and Janet do the invisible but vital work of proofing and checking communications before we send them out to the mailing list.

We always have room for new volunteers, especially in the fundraising and marketing areas. Even just writing us a guest blog post would be great. Watch out for one from Malawi next week. 

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Joyful start of year of fundraising with Women for Mission

We are honoured and grateful to be one of the four charities to be supported by Women for Mission this coming year. Women for Mission is part of the Free Church of Scotland. We were delighted to meet many of their members, from all around Scotland, at their annual get-together on 17th May. Mariot, Moira and Francesca represented the Mamie Martin Fund and were made very welcome.

From left to right: Mariot Dallas (MMF), CJ MacDonald (WfM Vice-Chair), Wilma Nicholson (WfM Chair), Francesca Munoz (MMF), Sarah Lytle (SfM Secretary), Moira Dunworth (MMF)

Not only is this an opportunity for us to get extra funding but it is also a chance to share our stories and our purpose with new audiences across the country. The funding from this project will support girls in their final two years at secondary school. This is a challenging stage for many Malawian girls, as the pressures to drop out of school intensify at that point. 

As part of the engagement with Women for Mission, we created a video about the Mamie Martin Fund – what we do, why and what impact that work has. This is now on their YouTube channel and is a great way of raising our profile. 

We see this new development as an opportunity for real partnership and look forward to meeting church groups around Scotland. Meanwhile enjoy the video about MMF which Catriona Logan of Women for Mission helped us to create:

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MMF on the airwaves

We were delighted to take part in a community radio programme this week. Radio Saltire, in East Lothian, invited us to be involved in their ‘Community Matters‘ programme on Wednesday 7th May. Daphne Loads, an East Lothian resident, spoke about her new book, ‘Outlandish‘. All proceeds of that book go to the Mamie Martin Fund. We had some time to tell the world about our work and why it is important.

Apart from the great opportunity to broadcast (sorry!) info about MMF, this was great fun. The programme host, Mike Falconer, had really prepared well. He knew about us from our website and commented favourably on our focus being strong and consistent. We realised that putting out an hour’s programme is a huge amount of work.

Daphne spoke on air about her book and Mike played a Gaelic song which Coinneach (co-author) had recorded for the programme. The other guests were interesting too and the event felt like an exciting school outing. Well, some of us went to school before school outings were a thing, but you get the gist!

‘Outlandish‘ is available for £7.99 (inc p&p) from our website.

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Welcome to our new Trustees

At our recent AGM we were delighted to report the election to our Board of two new Trustees. Matthew and Francesca are both much younger than the average age of the current Trustees – a welcome change! We need young voices and perspectives in the steering of our work.

Francesca has experience of work with grassroots NGOs and a strong interest in International Development. Matthew works for a clothing manufacturer with a focus on ethical trade. As such, he is very aware of the many issues facing women and children around the world. His current job in ‘social impact’ also involves managing donor projects and partnerhips. We are so pleased to have this level of expertise available to us now.

We say ‘thanks and see you later’ to the Trustees who have stepped down this year – Phil Wright, Mariot Dallas and Kate Jere. They each have strong connections with our work in Malawi and we hope to see them return to the Board at a later date.

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Issues facing girls going to school in Malawi

As an addendum to our AGM today, we want to share this recorded interview with you. During a recent visit by Howard Msukwa from Malawi to Scotland, he told us about some of the barriers to education faced by girls in Malawi. Class sizes in Malawian primary schools are very high with teachers often having to work with up to 120 children per group. As Howard says, it is difficult for children to concentrate in that situation. Without good exam results the children will not be selected for the better secondary schools. There are not enough secondary school places for all the primary school children in Malawi.

So by the time secondary school girls come to the attention of the Mamie Martin Fund they have already overcome huge obstacles. They face even more problems in schools which don’t have adequate toilet facilities for girls. 

The barriers faced are not only in school. Howard tells us about the attitudes of some families to girl-child education and the dangers of early marriage for young girls. While marriage under 18 is outlawed in Malawi, the law is not always applied, particularly in the North. Girls there are often in grave danger of being married before they have finished school. Howard says that the support provided by the Mamie Martin Fund is very important in keeping Malawian girls in school. ‘It sets the pace for role models in the villages.’ 

Howard is a rice farmer with KASFA, Kaporo Smallholder Farmers Association. They grow rice using co-operative irrigation methods and environmentally friendly farming techniques. Their rice is available in the UK as ‘Kilombero’ rice – our favourite rice! It is available from the One World Shop in Edinburgh and from Gavin’s Mill in the Glasgow area, among other outlets. 

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Another great coffee morning in Fife

How lovely it was to meet so many of our lovely Fife supporters in person again.  More than 60 people, mostly local, came to support girls’ education in Malawi and to enjoy Isabel Stanners’ wonderful baking. The blueberry scones were a particular favourite!

These joyous events remind us all of the power of community – this Fife community supporting girls and their families in other communities far away. The weather was very wet and so we had the pleasure of welcoming a group of ‘Talking Tandems‘. These hardy cyclists decided that a nice coffee and cake was a lot more sensible than cycling in the rain. They cycle on tandems, with a sighted cyclist in front and a blind or partially sighted cyclist behind. We thank them for their support of our event.

We were delighted, too, to have a Fairtrade stall at the event, stocked with colourful and interesting Malawian products from the One World Shop. Winnie Wood runs a regular Fairtrade stall at this Church and added colour and interest with Kibébé products for this occasion. 

Our event raised over £400.00 (net) – the goodwill and fun cannot be measured but joy and fun rose above the wind and rain to dominate the morning. Thanks to you all.

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Double the difference you make

Women and girls have the power to bring about positive change in their communities and their own lives when given the skills, opportunities and support they need. This week, from Thursday to Thursday, every pound you donate through our BigGive page will be doubled, paving the way to a brighter future for the girls we support in secondary schools in North Malawi.

Why give? Your donation will be doubled.
When to give? 10th-17th Oct – noon to noon
Where to give? https://donate.biggive.org/campaign/a056900002TPTa5AAH

or search BigGive.org for Mamie Martin Fund 

Thanks to the Big Give for including us in their Women and Girls Match Funding week. Thanks to you, our donors, for doubling your difference this week. 

#WGMF

 

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Hazel is a Kiltwalk star!

On Sunday 15th September, MMF supporter, Hazel McIntyre, joined over 9,000 others to walk the Edinburgh Kiltwalk. Hazel chose the toughest option and she walked 20.5 miles (33 kms). What a great achievement! The weather was favourable so raincoats were not needed but neither was sunscreen. 

Hazel walked with two friends who were fundraising for the Salvation Army – an important charity with a very long history. We were delighted to get a good-luck message from The Salvation Army on Facebook during the day. The walkers travelled from Glasgow to Edinburgh by train and Scotrail wished them luck too, on the socials.

Hazel has raised a whopping £800.00. This will go a long way in Malawi. The total costs of supporting an MMF girl at boarding school is £500.00 for a year and Hazel has exceeded that target magnificently. 

Thanks also to the support team who did the socials and helped in practical ways during the day. These Kiltwalks are amazing events – why not consider joining one next year? Here’s a comment from new MMF volunteer, Francesca, to encourage you:

“Being able to experience the Kiltwalk for the first time in Edinburgh is unforgettable. The environment full of motivation and love is inspiring. I have never seen faces so full of determination not only due to the challenge of the walk but of what they achieved for their desired charity/NGO. I am truly grateful to be able to support those competing and can’t wait to join next year.”