Bowater Honda helps local refugees upskill
Marty Stevenson (seated) from Bowater Honda explaining brake light bulb replacement to the group through interpreter Paul (black & white jacket)
Being a refugee is no barrier to keeping your car on the road.
There is a wonderful saying that you can give a man a fish and that will feed him for a day, but if you teach that man HOW to fish, you will feed him for a lifetime.
A group of former refugees now have some valuable skills to keep their vehicles on the road thanks to Bowater Honda, and in particular our Service Technician Marty Stevenson. For the second time in 12 months he has stepped up and volunteered his time to teach a fresh and diverse group some valuable basic vehicle skills.
The group of 14 men from Burma and Nepal attended a free car maintenance course last weekend for the afternoon in the workshop of Bowater Honda to learn basic mechanical skills such as checking oil, fluid levels such as water, changing out damaged bulbs and changing tyres.
The course, organised by the Nelson Multi Cultural Council and run by Bowater Honda, was aimed at providing the men with the skills to keep their vehicle safe and on the road for longer, says service technician Martin Stevenson, who spent the afternoon teaching the group.
“By the end of the day, after some hands-on practical training, they will walk away with some basic skills so that should they break down, they’ll know what to look for.”
"It is so rewarding, it feels good to see the smiles on their faces at the end of it"
A show of hands showed that only one of the group had ever changed a tyre before, something that organiser Dev Mehta says is no surprise seeing as most of them had never owned a car before.
“For these guys, where they come from having a car is like a 5 star luxury while here it is a basic necessity. It makes such a difference to them, having that basic knowledge to be able to help themselves.”