At travelandinsure.com we really do try and make a difference. As our Homepage declares, “travel insurance with a difference,” our intention is to identify aid programmes that support self sufficiency and not create a culture of aid reliance and dependency. We welcome feedback on priority areas on which to focus our efforts and indeed are always receptive to particular projects that come to our attention through our customers.
Primarily our concerns are to alleviate the effects of poverty and we support existing aid organisations that already have established efficient infrastructures so that we can be confident that funds are being used to target specific problem areas. This is an efficient use of resources but also means that we can carefully monitor where and how funds are being used and the effectiveness of individual aid projects. In this, we liaise closely with Trade Aid International who have been generating funds for several years to support aid efforts globally. We are proud to be involved in this important work.
So what have we supported so far in 2007? Through the charity, Links International, we have provided essential funding to purchase water filtration units to help bring clean fresh water to remote villages in Uganda that have no source of safe clean water. The units work by a simple filtration system which will take any water, no matter how polluted, and by a gradual overnight process will filter a bucket of filthy water into water totally fit for human consumption. These units work on a small scale so each family in a village can have their own supply. This is an exciting new project with huge potential worldwide. Access to a safe and clean water supply is denied to well over a billion people so we are carefully monitoring the success of these units in Uganda with a view to distribute them to other countries with people in similar need. Funding has also been directed to primary healthcare teams in Southern Africa. Training is provided to local staff who travel to remote villages and locations to instruct on simple healthcare issues with tremendous success. These teams have proven to be a very effective instrument in improving infant mortality rates and overcome the misinformation and obstructive thinking on such crucial areas as aids, childbirth, nutrition and basic healthcare. We hope to maintain this effort as an ongoing project.
Keith McGregor is a partner of Strawberrysoup, a web design agency with offices in Chichester and Bournemouth. Strawberrysoup specialise in creative web design, content managed websites, search engine optimisation, search engine marketing and graphic design."
