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Norfolk's Lynne Symonds was made African Chief
of the Mampreusi tribe, a tribe in northern Ghana in honour of the
work she has done to help the community in Wulugu.
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of The Wulugu
Project, I will join Lynne in Ghana to see
how much an impact the organisation has made.
I will be flying into the Ghanaian capital, Accra,
and then travelling to northern Ghana to an area known as Wulugu
where the project is based.
Lynne Symonds in Chief costume with the Mampreusi
tribe. |
Over the next week I'll be travelling with Lynne
and her husband to find out about the type of work that is being
done by Lynne's charity to help the people in the Wulugu community.
The idea for The Wulugu Project started when Lynne
sent out a container of books donated from schools in Norfolk to
the community.
In Ghana the main language is English so even though
children speak a tribal language amongst their families they learn
to read and write in English.
Contact info
If you'd like to get involved with the Wulugu Project then contact:
Lynne Symonds
Wulugu Project
Church Farm
Great Melton
Norwich
Tel: 01603 453750 |
These old text books and reading books that were
donated were a great help to the locals as there were very few books
in that part of Ghana, so they enabled the teachers to improve the
children's education.
Since then a library has been set up and the money
raised by The Wulugu Project here in Norfolk has funded a school,
a library and the building of an education centre specifically for
girls enabling them to further their education and which helps to
enhance the status of women.
Farmers have also been helped with various bits
of equipment, although most importantly, education is being provided
on issues such as HIV and Aids - something which is a growing problem
as 40% of hospital beds are used to treat Aids patients.
A doctor on a motorbike bought by the project
to help him travel to isolated villages and teach HIV and Aids
awareness. |
The majority of funds for the Wulugu Project come
from people here in Norfolk. More than £100,000 been raised over
the ten years since the project was first launched.
Just as important as money has been the donations
of items like books, sewing machines and some very weird and wonderful
items.
What's even more exciting is that thousands of
BBC Radio Norfolk listeners have contributed over the years through
various appeals. Only last week we appealed for a mega phone which
will be used by doctors and health organisations to educate about
HIV and Aids.
I'll be out in Ghana for just over a week but will
be doing live radio interviews from the country over the coming
week.
When I return there will be a series of pieces
on BBC Radio Norfolk starting Monday 14 July. You'll also be able
to read my regular updates here on the BBC Norfolk website.
Read more: Victoria's
first day in Ghana»
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