Nigerian women visit Dundee to pay tribute to 'our late Mama' Mary Slessor
A group of Nigerian women have visited Dundee to honour the memory of missionary Mary Slessor.
The group on their visit to Verdant Works and (below) outside The McManus.
- By Grant Smith
- Published in the Courier : 11.07.11
- Published online : 11.07.11 @ 04.55pm
They are members of the Calabar Women's Organisation, which works to promote education and health in the part of the country where Slessor lived and worked.
Anita Pascal, the organisation's president, said, "Mary Slessor is such an important figure in Nigeria. She helped so many people and did so much for the country.
"She rescued a lot of women who were being tortured and stopped the killing of twin babies. She is buried at Calabar and people still put down fresh flowers on her grave.
"We were taught about Mary Slessor at school and her life had an impact on my own life. We all regard ourselves as the great, great grand-daughters of Mary Slessor."
The women visited Verdant Works museum to learn about the jute mills where Mary worked before travelling to Calabar.
Mary was born in Aberdeen in 1848 and came to Dundee as a child with her family. Inspired in part by explorer David Livingstone, she volunteered to work in Calabar, now part of Nigeria's Cross River State.
She arrived there in 1876 and spent much of the rest of her life promoting Christianity and caring for a large family of adopted children. Among her achievements was persuading people to abandon the notion that twin babies were cursed.
Mary carried on working until her death in 1915. A foundation named after her continues to work in Calabar and two of its members, Elaine Hackney and Lynne Binnie, welcomed the women to Dundee.
Their tour also took in the Wishart Arch, close to the site of the church where Mary worshipped, and The McManus, which has an exhibition about her.
Anita said it had been "a privilege and an honour" to learn more about the life of "our late Mama."
"She worked selflessly in ensuring that children and women had a better quality of live. Some of us who are twins are the product of her legacy," she said.
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