News

About 18 months ago I was reading the RACV Newsletter and came across a short article about the L2P program which was running at that time, I think, in Geelong. At the foot of the article mention was made that efforts were being made to start the program in other cities, Bendigo included. Those interested were invited to log-on to a website, check out some details, and if so inclined, register as a volunteer. Figuring that “I could do this” I  registered, and promptly forgot that I had done so. Several months later I received a call inviting me to meet with Meryn Ryan, the co-ordinator at the time,  who then arranged for me to join a few other like minded people for the first of several evaluation and training sessions, designed to ensure that we were of the right temperament and attitude to make good mentors. It was also pointed out at that time that any commitment to the program needed to be a long term basis, as it was envisaged that it could take up to 2 years to get a  new driver all the way from L 2 P.

Training completed, further sessions were then held to match us new mentors with likely ‘mentees’, and soon after I was introduced to my first mentee, a young lad from Burma. It took a while for me to clearly understand his accented English, break through his shyness and begin to make real progress with his driving. He was progressing nicely when he moved to Melbourne to continue his studies.

Shortly after his departure I was to meet Rose, from the Sudan. Rose had not driven much prior to our first session, and in a driving-school car with an instructor, the first few sessions were ‘interesting’ to say the least. However,  it did not take long before we were making good progress, both with her confidence and driving skills. We now tackle quite long drives, both in daylight and at night, on all kinds of roads, and I have no concerns for our safety at all. As a break from distance driving, we sometimes spend time in car parks, which is a challenge in a largish car! Rose has accumulated over 85 hours, and is looking forward to the day when she can hang up her ‘L’ plates.   A couple of lessons with a professional instructor to polish up her skills and road rule knowledge will ensure she gets her “P’s” on her first try I am sure.

Recently, during one drive, we were discussing how lucky we were to live in the society we do, considering the circumstances where Rose had come from, and what is going on in the Middle East at the moment, and she commented “What a wonderful program this was, to give people like me such a great opportunity, when we don’t access to a car”. We discussed the role that the City of Bendigo, Rotary, Lead-on and now the Salvation Army, with Denise Sibenaler as co-ordinator, had in initiating and supporting the program and agreed that it was in fact, “a wonderful program”, and hoped that it would continue. On a personal level, I certainly hope so too and look forward to being able to log ‘120 Hours’ in Rose’s log book.

Ian Wallis