A good health plan:
• Creates the potential for
everyone to be healthier.
• Harnesses the power
of information and
technology.
• Opens doors to
doctors and health care
professionals everywhere.
• Brings you the right
balance of benefits
and costs.
• Enables you to make
calculated decisions
that lead to solutions.
A network of rock
stars fuels the
Voice Project and
benefits the
women of Uganda.
sing it
forward
High note: The Voice
Project’s long chain of
covers began with a
women’s choir (above) in
Uganda’s Gulu region. As
part of the chain, Andrew
Bird (below) covered a
Cass McCombs song.
By Dan Macsai
can viral
videos help save war-
torn Africa? That’s
the question driving
the Voice Project, a
New York–based not-
for-profit that aims to
raise awareness for
Ugandan women’s
groups—by tapping
into our shared love
for music. It all started
with a women’s
choir in Gulu. “They
sent me footage of
themselves singing
‘Suitcase‚’ by [Ameri-
can folk artist] Joe
Purdy,” says CEO
Hunter Heaney, who
had taught the group
the tune during a
2008 trip to Uganda.
“I thought, Wouldn’t
it be great if we could
keep this going?”
So he reached out to
Purdy, who covered
a song by R. E. M.,
whose bassist, in
turn, covered a song
by Billy Bragg, and so
on. Today, the Voice
Project website, which
launched in March
2010, features videos
from 41 artists, includ-
ing R.E.M.’s Mike
Mills and Peter Gabriel
(whose daughter,
Anna, is a Project
cofounder). In sum,
they’ve logged more
than 3 million views
on Vimeo and gener-
ated some $50,000 in
donations—enough
to fund job-training
courses, an egg-
plant farm, and 500
microloans to Gulu
residents. Heaney’s
new goals: recruiting
corporate sponsors,
releasing an album,
and expanding the
Voice Project’s reach
worldwide. “We’re
gettin’ out there word-
of-mouth style,” he
says, “just like they
do in Uganda.”
uhctogether.com/growhealthy
UHCEW517317-000
