Accessible Healthcare.
Taxi Program.
In the country of Mali, the government provides health clinics in various parts of the country. This is typically a free service, however the clinics can be 10 to 20 miles from certain villages and towns. Making it a long and expensive journey to a clinic. The cost is especially prohibitive for pregnant women, who should be going in for check ups on a monthly basis. This particular need was discovered from the micro-savings groups where some of the challenges and problems arise and can be identified across all the various communities that have the savings groups.
One of the Full Circle Foundations pillars revolves around finding simple solutions to problems, which fundamentally is getting people to the clinic so they can stay healthy. So the foundation procured three wheeled transportation with seats for about six people which can act as a taxi service to shuttle all the women back-and-forth to the clinic. The driver has the benefit of using this vehicle for free and in exchange for taking the women to the clinic, can utilize the vehicle in off-hours to earn income and eventually pay back the investment of the vehicle, which can be turned around and re-invested. Currently there are two of these taxis set up in the southern part of Mali.