100 ABSTRACTS - NUMBER 54

I have been taking photographs for many years, and have had lots of different cameras, learning something new with each one.  It has been a long-standing joke in our family, ever since our sons were quite young, that whenever they saw me taking photographs, our older son, Martyn, would say, “If there’s nothing else around, Mum will even find a bin and take a photograph of it!”  

They were quite relaxed about me taking photographs of them, until they got to their teenage years, when as with most children, it became somewhat of a chore.  However, I didn’t let that stop me so whenever we went anywhere, I always looked for a good bin and they would often hide behind it while I took a shot of the bin - we found some great ones in Spain!

When I asked Martyn if he would be willing to sponsor me, he said he would give me £1 per bin, but I’m hoping that as this is a somewhat different bin, he will give me a bit more than that!

This, as you will see, is a dog poo bin, which is just down the road from where we live - and you can probably see that it says “Your country doesn’t need Poo” but in case this offends anyone, I have done a double exposure and also put in a beautiful climbing rose that has just bloomed on our blue fence and then made it a bit more abstract by doing a spot of fartnarkling with my PicsPlay App.  I must admit to looking all around before I took the poo bin shot - it is on a main road, with wide grass verges but I mean, who in their right mind takes photographs of poo bins???  When I saw two ladies walking along the path, I scooted off quickly!

Anyway, I hope that Martyn will give me top marks for this and sponsor me for number 54 in my 100 Abstracts Challenge, which I am doing to raise awareness of the Mamie Martin Fund, which helps young women and girls in their secondary education in North Malawi.

TISAUBIRANJI  is another 2013-2016 Mamie Martin Fund beneficiary, who also attended Elangeni Secondary School.  Her home village is in the Mzimba district of North Malawi and her parents did not have the finances to pay the school fees for their daughter for her secondary school education.

The Mamie Martin Fund stepped in and helped her with the fees with the result that she obtained a good marks in her Malawi School Certificate of Education.  In 2018, she studied at Karonga Teachers’ Training College and was at Chombe Primary School for her teaching practice.  

Another young woman who is giving back to her community and being a good role model by teaching children at school.

“Above all, be the heroine of your life,
     not the victim.”
Nora Ephron

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MaureenIles