Festive feast in Ghana for trio on climate trip

FORGET chestnuts roasting on an open fire — for Lynn Morris, this Christmas has meant the back seat of a Land Rover in Ghana, as she takes part in a mammoth climate change expedition.

The 27-year-old, from Stapley, near Hemyock, is part of a three-strong team which has already clocked up 10,000 miles through 16 countries, as part of an education development project to raise awareness about the potential consequences of global warming for low-lying communities around the Atlantic.

Lynn Morris, inset and above, helps to decorate the Land Rover that she and her two travelling companions called home for Christmas. The trio have already clocked up 10,000 miles and 16 countries on their mammoth expedition

The expedition, supported by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Land Rover, is a third of the way to completion. The team has so far visited 17 schools, from Scotland to Senegal.

They have met more than 5,000 students in communities which will be directly affected by rising sea levels, to connect and document their views via an online network.

Ms Morris, a Cambridge graduate and former video journalist for the Press Association, is a well- seasoned traveller, but was particularly drawn to the project.

She said: "The expedition we are on has never been attempted before, and we hope that by connecting students around the Atlantic with the issue of climate change, we can highlight our shared responsibility in dealing with it."

Although she had none of the festive creature comforts on Christmas Day, she planned to make the best out of being so far from home, in a fishing village called Butre.

She said: "We don't have any family or friends in Ghana and so are making our own fun.

"We may well be decorating our car with some tinsel but we haven't seen any holly as yet.

"In terms of Christmas dinner we have a two-ring petrol stove, so with no oven I don't think we are going to be having roast turkey.

"The meal is more likely to be fufu, a thick porridge which is a staple in Ghana, and stew, although we might try and brew up some mulled palm wine to wash it down with."

To undertake the project, the team received the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Land Rover's 2009 Go Beyond bursary of £10,000 and the use of a Defender 110 vehicle, which has been their mode of transport and home since they set off from Poole Harbour in September.

To keep up to date with the Atlantic Rising team, visit www.atlanticrising. org.