Maria MacDonald lives and works in North Glendale in South Uist, balancing family life, crofting and her role as Adult Learning Coordinator at Cothrom. Her story reflects how lifelong, flexible learning, both formal and informal, supports individuals, families and communities to stay rooted in island life while adapting to change.

Maria and Domhnall Iain both travelled to the mainland for their studies, alongside many fellow islanders following school. It was a couple of years before they met, like many island couples, in the Park Bar in Glasgow! Having come to the end of their studies and with plans to move home, the timing couldn’t have been better.

Upon their return, they set their sights on renovating a ruin on their croft in North Glendale. It was an old blackhouse, originally owned by the MacRae sisters, and where Margaret Fay-Shaw once lived. However, plans to live in it themselves shifted with the arrival of their daughter, Penny. The traditional cottage was instead turned into a self-catering venture.

Using a mix of local materials, rushes and marram, Domhnall Iain thatches the roof himself.

“There are rules on when you can cut and how much you can take, it is important to be mindful of nesting birds and coastal erosion.”

Maria feels a strong connection to the land and close-knit community. With Dohmnall Iain’s parents and brother just a mile down the road, it reminds her of her own childhood in Creagorry in Benbecula.

“My granny was just a short walk down the road, as well as aunties and uncles, and we were always outside playing with cousins. We had a croft and sheep. Even the landscape is similar, growing up on the rocky east side near the shore.”

These childhood memories ensure a deep connection to family traditions. In the summer months the family go cockle picking in the South Ford, like Maria did in her childhood.

“Growing up, my Mum always made a point of telling me everyone I was related to, no matter how distant! I now find myself doing the same with the girls. I sometimes wish I could go back and double check the information Mum would pass on to me. It’s only now that I see the importance of sharing these stories and traditions.”

Both Penny and Mairi get involved with the sheep, especially during lambing time, learning traditional practices from their Dad and grandad.

Maria’s youngest, Mairi, attends Cothrom Òg nursery, which is located within Maria’s workplace at Cothrom.

“I can look outside my office window and see her playing and she doesn’t know I’m there. It’s lovely to see. I would not be able to go to work if it wasn’t for Cothrom Òg.”

Maria also has the support of her in-laws. Maria’s own father lives in Wales and with her mother, Oighrig, having sadly passed away ten years ago, relying on the support of family and neighbours is a necessity. Dohmnall Iain’s parents are often on hand to help, driving Penny to the bus stop in the early morning or to Mairi MacLean’s Highland Dancing classes, which Mairi also now attends.

As Adult Learning Coordinator at Cothrom, Maria works with tutors to develop and deliver courses across Uist and Barra that support people into employment.

“It brings a great sense of achievement seeing young people who maybe lack confidence or are unsure where to go and to see them leaving with confidence, new skills under their belt and a renewed sense of purpose.”

Domhnall Iain’s role includes international travel, which can mean spending weeks at a time away from home. He is currently training to be a chief engineer, which in the past would have meant additional travel and time spent in Glasgow to attend college. Domhnall Iain is now able to access online learning and use the facilities at Cothrom, enabling him to advance his career closer to home.

Both Domhnall Iain’s experience and Maria’s role at Cothrom reflect wider research into adult and rural learning, which recognises education as something that enables people to stay rather than leave. Studies by organisations such as UNESCO show that access to flexible, local and digital learning allows adults at any stage to retrain, adapt and change direction without having to relocate. In island communities especially, learning becomes a tool for continuity, supporting livelihoods, sustaining population and allowing future generations to flourish wherever they may be based.

New skills are not just for the workplace. While Domhnall Iain is away, Maria manages their home, self-catering and croft.

“On one occasion I had to learn how to stomach-tube lambs who couldn’t feed on their own, which was daunting.”

With the help of YouTube and Domhnall Iain’s instructions on WhatsApp, all went well, and galvanised Maria to learn skills for when Domhnall Iain isn’t at home.

Maria hopes that her daughters will grow up with the option to stay on the islands if they want to.

“There is definitely more choice and opportunity now, in terms of training and different kinds of work, than when I left school.”

From formal learning through Cothrom to practical skills learned on the croft, learning is not something that happens once, or elsewhere, but something ongoing and intertwined with everyday life.