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

Tag: Mamie Martin

Posted on

Remembering Mamie Martin at Tarbet

Today, ‘Story on Bikes’, the bike ride telling the story of Mamie Martin (née Telfer), arrived in Tarbet to remember Mamie, a daughter of the Manse, a teacher in Helensburgh and a missionary in Malawi in the 1920s. Mamie and her husband Jack left Tarbet in 1921 to go to Malawi. Mamie saw there the need to support the education of girls in Malawi and that work which she started is continued today by the Mamie Martin Fund. The cyclists were delighted to be welcomed to the very Manse where Mamie lived and an extract from ‘Salt and Light’, a book of Mamie’s letters, was read in the Manse garden by Mariot Dallas, Mamie’s eldest granddaughter.

Mamie’s family, the Telfers, are still remembered in Tarbet and their story is told on the Arrochar and Tarbet local heritage website – http://www.arrocharheritage.com/HistoryOfTheTelferManse1875-1925.htm. Mamie would be so happy to know that connections between Scotland and Malawi are stronger than ever and that her conviction about the necessity of educating girls is now widely accepted as true around the world.

The cyclists crossed the loch to Inversnaid with Cruise Loch Lomond and will continue through the Trossachs to Falkirk where some of Mamie’s family now live.

As well as those who are cycling the route, 42 people are doing the equivalent distance at home on the stay-at-home version which has been so popular. The stay-at-home riders are based in Scotland, Ireland and England – an international effort! You can encourage the riders on the fund-raising page.  

Posted on

Volunteering then and now

On this Volunteers Week, we remember that Mamie Martin was a volunteer. She and Jack married in 1921 and set off for Malawi . Jack was serving with the Livingstonia Mission but Mamie’s role as a missionary wife was undefined.

As they began their life together in Malawi Mamie’s passion for education and equality led her to set up classes and boarding schools for girls and women. She didn’t need to do this, and she encountered some difficulties, but she battled on and made a difference to many people. Jack and Mamie’s letters and diaries became the book Salt and Light, and eventually the Mamie Martin Fund was set up, and here we are today, supporting girls through secondary education in Malawi in memory of Mamie. 

In the Mamie Martin Fund today, we rely on volunteers and we celebrate them in Volunteers Week. They raise funds, they serve as Trustees, they lend us their skills in social media, photography, admin, video editing, etc, etc, and together we are making a difference to girls and women in Malawi. I like to think that Mamie would be pleased !

Posted on

Wristbands – a cheery video

Staying on the theme of sharing positive stories during this difficult time, we’ve put together a short video about wristbands. On a visit to Malawi in 2018, the older Mamie Martin pupils asked if they could have something which would identify them as belonging to the Mamie Martin Family. Mercy always stresses to them that they are part of the wider MMF family; the girls take that on board and look out for each other when they can. One question from the girls was how they would know which of the other pupils were MMF girls.

We discussed options and came up with silicone wristbands from Ross Promotional Products in Glasgow with the MMF name and rainbow colours, signifying the inclusivity which we aim for in all our work. We were given permission to distribute these to our girls and many of the teachers also wished to wear one. You can see from the video that they were well received by our girls. We are so glad that they love to declare their affiliation with us. 

Posted on

Looking backwards and forwards

The Mamie Martin Fund Trustees are using their unexpected spare time in sharing more parts of Salt and Light. Salt and Light, written by Margaret Sinclair, Jack and Mamie’s daughter, tells the story of their time in Malawi in the 1920s through their diaries and letters home to Scotland. In the third extract to be recorded, Mariot Dallas, one of Mamie’s granddaughters, reads an extract from 1922 when Mamie reflects on being made matron of a boys’ school. She was to use that experience later in her work for girls’ education, for which she saw a great need early on in her time in Malawi. 

The other extracts are on this site under ‘Stories‘ on our menu. We will be adding to them, using our ‘lockdown’ time productively. We are also using that time to complete a booklet with some extracts from Salt and Light and offering corresponding information about the present-day situation between Scotland and Malawi. This booklet will be ready for Story on Bikes, a cycling project that we hope can go ahead in early August. We all need to bide our time just now, thanks for reading our posts in the meantime. Stay safe!