Second Week On the Job

Week 2

June 18, 2010

What I Did:

Most of this last week at work was devoted to looking up information about school bus safety, a current issue that Rural Women New Zealand is focusing on. The aim is to raise awareness among Kiwi motorists that the speed limit while driving past a stationary school bus is 20 kilometers per hour, which is particularly an issue on open roads, where the speed limit is 100 kilometers per hour. Few drivers are aware of this rule, or if they are aware do not adhere to it. As a result, there have been too many deaths and injuries of school children as they cross the road getting off the bus. I have been working on looking up past documents on the activities of RWNZ on the issue, and also made a few phone calls to people who are working on the same issue. One of these was Peter Baas, who is developing a prototype sign to put on the back of buses that have been chartered for school usage (as opposed to designated school buses like in the States). This prototype research is being funded by the Road Safety Trust, but will not be ready in the near future. Another call I made was to the Horizons Regional Council to see if they had erected any signage in their area trying to raise awareness. As it turns out, they had put up seven signs and done some follow-up research.

As it is, I dislike making phone calls, and really dreaded making these ones. Kiwis talk really fast, and sometimes I feel like I am translating. Adjusting. Adjusting.

How Did I Feel?

For one, I admire the tenacity of the people at Rural Women New Zealand. The school bus safety project has been going on for several years now. I feel quite overwhelmed jumping in during the middle of such a huge undertaking. There has been a lot of back paperwork that I needed to look over (previous applications to the Road Safety Trust, submissions, and so on), and though I can understand it perfectly fine, I still am having a hard time grasping the context of this possible project. However, I am getting settled into RWNZ and am looking forward to next week when I will be accompanying Noeline to some meetings, including something at parliament.