A Norfolk woman’s charity is attempting to educate people in Ghana after fears the coronavirus information is not reaching remote villages.
Lynne Symonds, from Great Melton, become the only white woman chief of the Mamprusi Tribe in north Ghana in 1996.
Following this she set-up the charity The Wulugu Project to help the most deprived and disadvantaged villages to gain better education as a way out of poverty.
Her charity is run by volunteers in Ghana and UK creating almost 100 schools, including seven vocational schools for girls and hostels for girls and female teachers.
Ms Symonds said: “Our Ghana team were concerned that there was little information reaching the remote villages.
“Many called it ‘white man’s disease’ and thought they were safe. They knew schools were shut, but not why. Our team took it upon themselves to help and prepared a series of simple pictures, took a small generator and slide show and used the local languages.
“They used Wulugu Project name as we are trusted and highly respected so communities will listen to us. That’s quite a responsibility.
“I am so very proud of our volunteers out there. The World Health Organisation in Ghana said that clean water was a priority, and urgent action should be taken to provide this.
“Medical services are not a choice for most people. Many villages, hundreds of thousands of people, rely on dirty standing water. This is used for washing, drinking, cooking and cattle.”
The charity is now raising money to fund drilling trucks to create bore holes to before the coronavirus reaches the region.
“We really had a good opportunity to greatly lower the danger before it reaches the region,” Ms Symonds added.
“We need £3,900 for each bore hole. The cost is approximately £1.50 per beneficiary.
“We normally focus on education, particularly for girls and women, and are credited with helping 400,000 but we need parents to stay alive so that they can afford to send their children to school.”
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