Koornalla - Le Roy Ladies Group has been formed
The community
What is the difference between public speaking and chatting with friends? According to Sophie and Liz, only the number of people involved.
Sophie and Liz live in Koornalla. And in a small community like Koornalla and Le Roy they know most of the women, from having children in the same school, driving children to sports and other events. But there were other women they only knew by sight.
Women to whom they waved when driving past, or greeted with a nod and a smile from a distance. Some of these women had no children of the same age, or with the same interest, as their own children, or were a little shy, or for whatever reason, they did not mix with the rest of the community at social events.
Both Sophie and Liz felt a need to make contact with these women, and welcome them into the community's "inner circle" of women. But for one reason or another, they just did not get a chance to do anything more about it.
Then the horror of Black Saturday brought new commitments, new worries and problems. Out of the 39 houses in Koornalla and Le Roy 23 buildings (That includes residence, two unoccupied houses and "Ätco" sheds that were used for storing personal goods) were lost to the fire, to add to the property loss, there was also the loss of life. The need to rebuild lives, the community and houses acquired a new degree of urgency. Liz and Sophie still had their homes, but they felt loss and the loss in the community is still keen.
In smaller communities, the loss is not just a statistic, it is a missing face, a welcoming smile, a friend who will never again drop in for a "cuppa". The loss is more intense and it lasts longer.
The start:
Liz and Sophie got together and they came to an agreement that the time had come to form a small group of women into an informal self help, social group, and that the women who they only knew by sight should be invited to join.
Sophie and Liz went door-knocking, and 9 friends showed up on the first meeting, on the second meeting, 10 friends showed up, there would have been a few more, but for illness and more urgent commitments.
New lessons learnt, and old lessons remembered:
This will work in smaller communities, or sub-communities. It will probably work in Callignee, and Traralgon South, but not in Traralgon.
The minimum number would be around 5 or 6, and the maximum number of members in the group would be around 20 for a couple of reasons
Because the group has no funds or desire to rent a hall, they meet in a member's home. So the number that can comfortably assemble in a home would have to have a limit.
And another reason is the fact that some people (or should I say many?) feel nervous about standing up and addressing a large gathering, then, even if they have something to contribute to the group, they may hesitate to stand up and speak out. The nervousness may still be apparent with a smaller group for the first few meetings, but in time they will get used to them, with larger groups however, they may never feel comfortable enough to speak out.
As a part of the healing and bonding process, the group will want to organize pamper sessions, or outings of some sort and the numbers would again be a limiting factor.
If you live in a smaller community, and even if you have not been affected by Black Saturday, but feel that you would like to get a group together, do it, you will get a lot of enjoyment out f it.
The future:
Aw well, that is yet to be written, but for this group it is bound to be a brighter and better future, and it is all thanks to a pair ladies who went door-knocking.