Introduction
Increasingly many organizations are reinventing and positioning themselves as social entrepreneurs who combine inconspicuous for profit activities and philanthropic undertakings. Riders for Health is a good example of a social enterprise and has in fact received numerous awards in this regard. Riders for Health is a non governmental organization that was born in the motorcycle community when groups of individuals began racing to raise funds for needy children in Africa. During trips to Africa in the 1980’s to see the results of their fundraising Andrea and Barry Coleman, and Randy Mamola, noticed that vehicles meant to be used to ensure effective health care service delivery were not being utilized since they had broken down. This made their racing career to take a new focus as they started working with various established organizations to develop systems that would help manage vehicles that were in hostile and difficult conditions. In 1996 Riders for Health was finally registered in the UK as an independent Non governmental organization and in 1991 it opened its first program in Lesotho and many others have followed since.
It now operates in Zimbabwe, Gambia, Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria, and has employed more than 230 individuals. The organization’s mission is to make sure health workers in Africa access reliable transportation in form of four or two wheeled vehicles so that they can effortlessly reach patients or deliver medication to isolated or rural villages. The organization’s programs and works have been featured on BBC, CNN, Time magazine among other media. It generally receives support and donations to sustain its programs from several motor cycle companies and other well wishers from the motorcycle racing society.
Discussion
It is imperative to understand that without effective transportation health care projects will certainly fail therefore Riders for Health have a very noble mission. In any case as social entrepreneurs they are expected to come up or create innovative solutions for society to help them tackle pressing social problems. Social entrepreneurs are those organizations or individuals that do not leave community problems and needs to individual governments but rather commit themselves to finding out what things in a particular community are not working, develop strategies to solve the identified problems and then work to change the existing system by spreading their solutions. They seek to practically implement their vision above everything else.
Organizations such as Riders for Health opt to become social entrepreneurs for reasons similar to those of entirely for profit entrepreneurs that include to act and become change agents for communities, seize opportunities that others miss, improve systems, create new approaches or ways of service or goods delivery and generally make the society a better place to live in. Riders for Health are indeed change agents in society and have worked to ensure that they did not only identify opportunities that others had not recognized but also sort to identify lasting solutions that have left the society a better place. This is evident since they have developed solutions for areas in Africa; areas that many organizations shun from due to their difficult economic conditions. Generally Africa is one region that has mobility problems that have hampered its rapid economic and social development. The magnitude of the problem is astounding as reflected by a review of literature available on various media such as the internet, newspapers, television among others. There have been reports of women in labor taking up to eleven hours before accessing a health care facility that is capable of addressing their needs. The consequence has been the women developing complications such as fistula that could be avoided. Essentially lack of effective transportation has been a major barrier to many Africans’ access to emergency care and health care in general putting their lives in danger. Individuals’ experience transportation problems not only because of its inhibitive costs but largely also due to its unavailability in some areas.
It is thus clear that the work of Riders for Health has had a huge impact. With the mobility problems in Africa it can not be doubted that their services have led to increased health workers outreach since they have been kept consistently mobile as identified in Zimbabwean areas that are Riders supported. Riders for Health indicate in these areas more than ninety percent of health workers use vehicles that have enabled them to easily reach patients in communities. It is also obvious that their services have resulted to several health benefits for the people since mobility has ensured that health workers are able to reach, diagnose and treat a large number of patients on time. Riders’ report that in the year 2002 after beginning their operations in Gambia there was 261%, 55% and 75% increase in the diagnoses and treatment of diarrhea, malaria and acute respiratory infection respectively as compared to 2001, can not be disputed.
Despite their positive contribution in society, in order to continue operating effectively, Riders for Health must be aware that, the non profit operational environment has greatly changed making it necessary that they develop more corporate strategies that will ensure they increase their strengths and utilize their opportunities more, to purposely reduce the effects of their weaknesses and threats. Essentially the communities within which they operate are constantly growing in size implying that more funds are needed in order to bring their vision to fulfillment thus they can not ignore the changes in their operational environment.
They need to deal with all their weaknesses, for instance, as observed its key leaders seem not to be totally familiar with African cultures. This is undesirable since it does not help the company in any way. Actually, it important for multinational companies that intend to sustain their competitive advantages in their areas of operation to ensure their employees learn and adapt to indigenous cultures. Showing an understanding of the traditional cultures to the local people is also critical because it makes it easier for organizational projects to be accepted by them which is additionally essential for the company’s long term viability. There is moreover need for increased transparency since donors are requiring more accountability in order to steadily supply revenues.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Riders must get credit for strengths such as ensuring that all their programs are managed and run by wholly African professional teams and not expatriates or volunteers. This makes sure that they receive more support from local communities and also creates room for suggestions from Africans themselves on what should be done next to hasten the achievement of their vision. Additionally they should be applauded for locating their organization strategically essentially where it is needed most, that is in Africa. Fortunately Africa is not only a strategic location but also has warm and friendly people making it easy for Riders to freely run their business expand to accomplish their mission and objectives.
References
Riders for Health (RH) (2009). About us. Retrieved on 10 December 2009, from http://riders.org/us/faq.aspx
