46 Forever Surrey / anniversary issue


Surrey alumni making a mark


Graduate’s charity brings hope to forgotten communities


Lynne with people from the small town of Nalerigu


When Surrey alumna and science teacher Lynne Symonds was asked at an international conference how she coped with girls dying in her school, she was shocked at the question. She learned for the first time of the real hardship facing children in the Northern Region of Ghana.


The harsh climate, the neglect of education, the remote location and the lack of most of the basic needs of society means it is one of the poorest places in the world. In such an environment, early marriage was the norm. Many girls fell into the hands of traffickers and were forced into slavery or prostitution, returning home to die when they became too sick to work.


For those who did attend school, it necessitated a long trek from their


remote villages, or lodging in nearby homes where they were oſten subject to abuse.


However, Lynne’s chance meeting more than 20 years ago with Karimu Nachina, the then headmaster at Wulugu Secondary School in Ghana, has led to a charity that has improved the lives of 350,000 children. It has built or renovated over 50 schools, provided safe hostels for students and teachers, and set up training programmes, working with hundreds of villages across the Northern Region of the country.


The Wulugu Project began with supplying books and stationery to Karimu’s school (Wulugu Secondary – hence the name of the charity) and now not only supports the education of children in the most neglected villages, but also offers loans to help mothers set up their own businesses.


The charity has


improved the lives of 350,000 children and has built or renovated over 50 schools


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