The AccessTro Transportation Program is a pilot project that seeks to reduce social isolation among persons with disabilities in Amasaman, Ghana by providing affordable transportation while creating a sustainable source of funding for an expanded inclusive paid job training program at the Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation.
Background:
The World Health Organization estimates that about 1 in 6 people worldwide experience social isolation or loneliness. Social isolation and loneliness are associated with numerous negative health impacts over the life course: depression, chronic stress, cognitive decline, cardiovascular disease, weakened immune response, and premature mortality. Persons with disabilities are at heightened risk for social isolation and loneliness because of discrimination, barriers to participation, inaccessible environments, and reduced social support. Social isolation and loneliness affect as many as 1 in 2 people with disabilities worldwide.
Persons with disabilities in Ghana frequently experience social isolation because of transportation barriers. These include the physical inaccessibility of private buses, known as tro-tros, and the high cost of hiring a taxi. Persons with disabilities in Ghana also frequently experience discrimination in employment, which excludes them from a common source of social connection. Work, especially in the creative economy, can provide people with community, routine social interaction, and a sense of shared purpose. It also provides reliable income that supports social and other activities that can improve health over time.
Program:
The Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation is a non-profit, community-based organization in Amasaman, Ghana founded in 2016 by Matilda Lartey. The mission of the foundation is to create inclusive work and job training with fair wages for artisans who have been displaced by the secondhand clothing trade and the global fast fashion industry. Its established job training program covers skills like cloth-making, soap-making, and other income-generating trades.
The Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation seeks to establish a sustainable transportation and job training initiative that will work to help address social isolation, loneliness, and economic exclusion among persons with disabilities in and around the community of Amasaman. The program involves purchasing three gently used passenger cars for the Foundation. One will be used by the Foundation for its routine tasks and programs, including to assist with the transportation needs of artisans at the Foundation. The other two will be contracted out to trusted drivers, who work them as taxis and pay the Foundation a fixed fee for every day of work. The sustainable funding generated from these taxis will financially support an expansion of the paid job training program at the Foundation. In addition, each of these taxis will provide five free or subsidized rides each week to persons with disabilities in the community.
By making subsidized transportation services available to persons with disabilities near Amasaman (approximately 60 trips per month), the Foundation will support the social participation of persons with disabilities, ranging from visits to friends and family, attendance at religious services, completing errands, or other activities that they find meaningful and which reduce feelings of social isolation and loneliness.
By making job training opportunities available to persons with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities in Greater Accra, Ghana (four 6-month training positions each year), the Foundation will provide people affected by disability with connection to creative community where they can form long-term social bonds, develop a sense of creative purpose, reduce feelings of loneliness, and improve their health.
Logistics:
The program will be led by Founder and Managing Director Matilda Lartey and governed by the Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation, whose board includes leaders from local organizations of persons with disabilities in the Amasaman area. The subsidized ride program will be developed through interviews and design thinking focus groups with Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation board members and other stakeholders. The program will be rolled out with an ongoing quality improvement approach through which the program will be modified and improved iteratively over time.
The vehicles will be owned by the Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation and comprehensively insured by a licensed insurance company in Ghana for liability and damage. After conducting research into gas, electric, and hybrid vehicles, we determined that Toyota Corollas in the 2017-2022 model range best fit the needs of this project due to their price, repairability, durability, fuel efficiency, and availability in local markets.
Evaluation:
We will measure the following quantitative metrics: (1) number of disability-inclusive rides provided, (2) number of unique beneficiaries served, (3) miles traveled overall and for subsidized rides (tracked via an app), (4) rider satisfaction surveys, (5) surveys about feelings of loneliness before and after rides, (6) job training program completion rates, and (7) graduate outcomes after training program completion.
We will also conduct key informant interviews with beneficiaries, drivers, job training program graduates, and other stakeholders as part of an impact assessment initiative undertaken every three years.
Funding:
We are seeking $48,000 USD in funding for the AccessTro Program at the Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation to cover the procurement of 3 gently used vehicles ($15,000 USD each) and to cover administrative and insurance costs associated with establishing the program ($3,000 USD total).
Donations to the AccessTro Transportation Program at the Matilda Flow Inclusion Foundation are tax-deductible in the United States via MFC Tie-Dye Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit organization that is a long-standing partner of the Foundation and is a partner of this program. Donations are processed through Zeffy, which generates a tax-receipt to the email provided at checkout. Zeffy is a free platform funded by optional tips, which you can decline by selecting “other” and inputting “0” when prompted. For other ways to donate to the campaign, such as via cash, check, PayPal, or Zelle, email info@makefashionclean.org.
Notes:
Thank you for taking the time to learn about our campaign!
As a team, we recognize that there are a lot of urgent and important causes to contribute to in the world right now and understand if this isn’t the one for you at this time. If our fund speaks to you though and you have the means to support, we deeply appreciate your investment into our partnership. This is a long-term fundraising campaign that will remain active through 2028.
Campaign Link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/accesstro-transportation-program-at-the-matilda-flow-inclusion-foundation
Campaign Video Link: https://youtu.be/7kOQ_tmC5Yg
Follow @matildaflowghana on Instagram for the latest updates about the program.