The Saviour of Twins: A Brief History of Mary Slessor Who Worked for Humanity, Had Challenging Childhood

The Saviour of Twins: A Brief History of Mary Slessor Who Worked for Humanity, Had Challenging Childhood

  • The great humanitarian and missionary, Mary Slessor, had a challenging childhood as she worked and schooled while she was young
  • Mary's love for church was nurtured by her mother who made sure she attended services as a kid
  • In Africa, the humanitarian helped put a stop some barbaric traditions and improved the lives of kids and women despite having malaria several times

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Mary Slessor is great humanitarian who lived from December 1848 to January 1915. While many know her as the saviour of twins, other parts of her life also deserve knowing.

In this report, Briefly News looks at some aspects of Slessor's life.

Early life of Mary Slessor

According to Undiscovered Scotland, although Mary Slessor was born in Aberdeen, she had to move to another city called Dundee at age 11.

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The killing of twins in Calabar/Mary Slessor the get missionary.
Mary Slessor worked while she schooled. Photo source: WorkOutYourFaith, Underdiscovered Scotland, Scotsman
Source: UGC

Her childhood was not all rosy. This is partly due to the fact that her alcoholic father lost his job because of his addiction. Mary's mother was the opposite of her father. She was a fervent Christian. The woman ensured her daughter followed in her footstep.

Due to her family's financial situation, Mary had to combine schooling with work. After her formal education, the humanitarian was already a skilled worker as she worked at jute mills from 6-6pm.

Mary Slessor's passion for humanitarian service

Mary's charity passion started at a young age. She was a member of a local mission to the poor. By the time she was 28, she applied to become a missionary. After receiving adequate training, she went on a mission to Africa.

Mary Slessor's mission in Africa

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The Travelling Team reports that the young Mary loved church so much. When she came to Calabar, her post was at a place called the Duke Town. She was there as a school teacher.

Mary Slessor's page disclosed that the woman became the first ever female magistrate after Southern Nigerian became a British protectorate.

While in Nigeria, she had to deal with a series of malaria cases. The woman's popularity even became more after death because of her selfless work for humanity.

Rescuing children and helping women

Some of the core works of the humanitarian was the welfare of children. She rescued kids who were abandoned and also stopped the killing of twins.

Apart from that, Mary Slessor also improved the lives of African women in her society.

A webpage dedicated to her work had this to say about her:

"In Nigeria there are many reminders of Mary Slessor, statues of her holding twins, roads, streets and hospitals named after her. Similarly in Britain streets are named after her in several cities including Coventry, Dundee and Glasgow."

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Man who rescued an abandoned baby

Meanwhile, Briefly News earlier reported that a young man with the TikTok handle @kala_kakapentoa is a true reflection of what humanity should be.

In a video shared on the platform, the man did a photo collage of the baby he found by the roadside years ago.

He took the child under his care. The man revealed that with the help of his mother, he was able to nurture the child. According to him, babysitting him was a tough job.

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Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.

Bianca Lalbahadur avatar

Bianca Lalbahadur Bianca Lalbahadur is a current affairs journalist at Briefly News. With a knack for writing hard-hitting content, she is dedicated to being the eyes and ears of South Africans. As a young and vibrant journalist, Bianca is passionate about providing quality and factual stories that impact citizens. She graduated from the Independent Institute of Education in 2017 and has worked at several award-winning Caxton associated community newspapers.