Bye, Canary Wharf! Gina heads for Ghana

It was a combination of the terrorist atrocity in New York on September 11 and growing disenchantment with working in London that made Gina Bane decide on a dramatic change of lifestyle.

So the 29-year-old quit her ?40,000-a-year job with one of the country's big five accountancy firms ? where she was a project manager in business consultancy ? and sold her luxurious flat near Crystal Palace.

Then she moved back to her home town of Swaffham to stay with friends while she worked with her father, a builder, and is currently helping to build a house.

In three weeks she is off to Africa with Raleigh International to help supervise 105 young volunteers from the UK on nine projects in Ghana, which will include building a school, nutrition centres and health clinics.

As well as earning nothing, she has had to finance most of the ?2500 cost of the 13-week tour of duty herself, although she has received some help from Swaffham Lions and King's Lynn Round Table.

When she returns home, she has no idea what she will do next.

She said: "Something will turn up. All I know is that I feel happier now than ever before."

She was working in the Canary Wharf office complex in London's Docklands when the terrorists struck New York's Twin Towers.

She believes the terrifying attack and its devastating aftermath, which is still being felt today, was the turning point in her life.

Miss Bane, who grew up locally and is a former pupil of Swaffham's South Greenhoe Middle School and Litcham High, said: "Living and working in London was very much a materialistic rat race.

"I was working 12-hour days, seven days a week.

"On September 11 I was left wondering what I could say I had done with my life if that had happened to us at Canary Wharf.

"What could I say I had given back to people? What had I achieved apart from earning a lot of money?

"That day had a marked impact on me. It really brought things home to me."

After selling her home and leaving London to live with friends at Stratton Close, Swaffham, she contacted Raleigh International and contacted Raleigh International and they offered her the Ghana project.

Miss Bane, who has never travelled beyond Europe before, said she was nervous but excited about the prospect of living rough in Ghana.

She will sleep in the open on a hammock under a mosquito net in desert savannah or rainforest without electricity or running water.

She said: "I want to come back knowing that I have done something to help other people and to change their lives for the better.

"I'll wait and see what I shall do when I get back. For me, this is a at when I get back. This is a pivotal point in my life ? from being in the rat race, being a high flier to coming back and saying 'What next?'"

Miss Bane is still seeking sponsors to help with the cost of her trip and can be contacted on 07900 904838.