From the Slums of Dundee
Mary Slessor grew up in the slums of Dundee, Scotland, working in mills from age eleven. When she read about Calabar (now Nigeria), she felt a strange calling to that violent land.
Into the Jungle Alone
In 1876, she arrived in West Africa. What she found horrified her: twins were murdered at birth (believed to be cursed), human sacrifice was common, and tribal warfare never ceased.
Mary did what no missionary had dared - she walked alone into the jungle villages. She lived with the people, adopted African babies, and challenged chiefs face-to-face.
The White Queen
When the British government needed someone to judge disputes in the interior, they appointed Mary - the first woman vice-consul in the British Empire. She settled cases, saved countless twins, and earned the title "Ma" from people who had once practiced human sacrifice.
"God and one are always a majority."
She died in 1915, still in her beloved jungle. Today, the Efik people of Nigeria revere her memory - the tiny Scottish mill worker who walked where others feared to tread.
