KIRKLAND, Wash. — Can long term care insurance indirectly improve the lives of AIDS-plagued Africans? Many in the LTC industry seem to think so. Five organizations have pledged contributions to the Rabuor Village Project, a comeback model for villages throughout Africa. They join LTC Financial Partners (LTCFP), the nation’s most experienced long term care insurance brokerage, which announced on December 1 that it would contribute 2% of its profits each year to the Rabuor Village Project.
The organizations following LTCFP’s example include John Hancock and MetLife, both of which offer long term care insurance protection. The other three are Online Insurance Services (Olins) of Salt Lake City, Utah; Roeser Resources of Kirkland, Washington; and EraNova Institute of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Olins, Roeser Resources, and EraNova, which offer support services to the LTC industry, have each pledged a portion of current profits to the Rabuor Village Project. John Hancock and MetLife have pledged “very gratifying amounts,” says Cameron Truesdell, CEO of LTC Financial Partners, the man who instigated the giving program.
“This is not just another worthy cause,” says Truesdell. “It’s an investment in a seed operation. The Rabuor model can be replicated in thousands of villages throughout Africa and beyond.” Truesdell hopes others in his industry will jump on the bandwagon. “It makes you feel good, it helps many deserving kids and adults, and in time the village model could give a new chance to millions.”
The Rabuor Village Project empowers the people of Rabuor Village, Kenya, to develop sustainable community-based solutions to overcome the challenges of poverty spawned by HIV/AIDS.
Contributed funds are used in three program areas:
- * Children & Education:
Providing opportunity to the growing ranks of youngsters who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
* Water & Health:
Securing a reliable supply of clean water for human consumption and agriculture; and supporting wellness through a community pharmacy and HIV/AIDS education.
* Economic Development:
Supporting self-sufficiency through micro-loans and technical assistance.
Started in 2003, the project has already brought encouraging results, including better-fed youngsters through a school nutrition program, cleaner water through installation of storage cisterns, disease prevention through the distribution of free anti-retroviral drugs, and improved community life through new businesses. The ventures include hybrid goat breeding, a commercial brick works, bee keeping for honey production, and sunflower growing for the production of sunflower oil and other products.
Today the village appears transformed to visitors who saw only despair two years earlier. New hope and vitality are evident everywhere, and “the women have begun to sing again,” says Loyce Mbewa, founder of the project.
“We especially want people in the long term care industry to contribute,” says Truesdell, “but donations from anyone are very welcome.”
Companies and individuals wishing to help will find information at http://www.ltcfp.us/rabuorvillage .
[tags]Rabuor Village Project, fight poverty in Africa, global aid, LTCi industry, LTC Financial Partners, assistance for Kenya peoples[/tags]
