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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 joined Lynne in Ghana to see how
much an impact the organisation has made.
Day One
At the moment I'm in a place in central Ghana called Kumasi. Lynne
and I travelled up from the capital, Accra, today and we have about
another 300 miles to go.
That doesn't sound very far, but by Ghana standards
it's a very long way. The roads here aren't that great - they've
got pot holes and there is a lot of traffic in the towns.
When you get out of the towns, you are in dense
forest and the roads aren't very well surfaced.
Lynne Symonds in her Chief clothes |
When we arrived in Accra, Lynne had three of her
four bags missing. All her chief robes, letters
from schools that were being exchanged and lots of other things
for the project were gone.
So unfortunately we had to spend a day in Accra
just sorting it out. Luckily we stayed put because we have actually
retrieved the bags and we're now on our way and will be in Wulugu
later this evening.
Culture shock
It has been quite an interesting journey
so far as I've seen some remarkable sights. The street sellers that
walk by the side of the road are quite incredible.
They are selling a whole range of different things,
from fruit such as pineapples, papayas, oranges and bananas and
selling pairs of shoes and toothbrushes.
The weather today is absolutely beautiful and
it is very hot. It is quite cloudy and I'd say it is about 29 degrees
centigrade. It's cloudy but very very hot and very very humid.
Some of the children in Ghana who benefit from
The Wulugu Project |
It's supposed to be the rainy season but as yet
I haven't seen a drop of rain. But our guide travelling with us
said that up in Wulugu, the north of Ghana, it has been raining
quite a lot which is good because it means that things are very
green and luscious and it's very helpful for people who are trying
to grow crops.
In terms of the local food, so far I've had an
awful lot of yam to eat. This is similar to potato but it has quite
a distinct taste and you either like it or you don't. Fortunately
I don't mind it too much - it's not too bad!
But the delicacy over here that we've seen lots
of street sellers offering is giant snails and I've yet to try one.
I have had a good look at one and they don't look too tempting!
They're about the size of a fist and very
slimy.
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 |
The Wulugu project
Lynne has told me that hundreds of hospital
beds in northern Ghana are taken up by people with HIV and Aids.
It is a really big problem in northern Ghana and
one that hasn't really been recognised, so the project is aiming
to tackle to tackle the problem.
The Wulugu project is also doing lots of things
with regards to helping the community help themselves. Farmers are
given ploughs and bullocks so that they are able to progress and
use their own skills and own labour to produce crops in a much more
effective way.
Once we get to Wulugu I will be able to experience
first hand and see the kinds of benefits the project is giving to
the local community.
Read more:Lynne
is made tribal Chief again »
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