DRSC News
By Jemima Nalumansi
When I first saw the call for applications for the Delft Road Safety Course for low and middle income countries (LMICs), the first thing that came to mind was, “a course tailored just for LMICs? What a wonderful thing!”
I immediately signed up and also, shared the advert with as many people as I could that I knew would be interested.
Fast forward, I was accepted; the course was split into segments an online part and then a class based, physical part to end it. I was accepted into both segments (with a full scholarship), which was nothing short of an honor to say the least.
The classes were eye-opening, the group work was mind-awakening but being in a group of people from other LMICs was comforting because, in a good way, our challenges were similar, and therefore relatable. The perfect environment to find customized solutions which do not have to be ‘copy-pasted’.
Hearing from other LMIC experiences on how they are tackling challenges to do with speeding and motorcycle safety, and then listening to our great great tutors share ways in which such challenges can be managed helped me think outside the box for solutions that can be adopted or even have our countries adapt to, especially for what may seem impossible to implement. Issues to do with road safety management stood out greatly for me because at the end of the day, without proper road safety management, all other interventions could easily go to waste.
The practical (site visit) sessions of the course gave me a front row seat to experience firsthand how the world outside mine is doing things and offered me the opportunity to benchmark on what could possibly work at home, low cost of course. The bonus, the Netherlands is breathtakingly beautiful! Lastly, the fact that there is a whole institute, SWOV, dedicated to road safety research blew me away!
Would I recommend the DRSC for LMICs to anyone else? Most definitely!
