第2539期:Program Helps Pakistani Women Learn to Ride

Laiba Rashid is a 22-year-old Pakistani student in a special training program in the city of Lahore. The program, called Women on Wheels (WOW), teaches women how to operate two-wheelers, or motorcycles. Rashid hopes her life will change after she learns how to ride a motorcycle. 莱巴·拉希德 (Laiba Rashid) 是一名 22 岁的巴基斯坦学生，正在拉合尔市参加特殊培训项目。该项目名为“Women on Wheels”（WOW），教女性如何操作两轮车或摩托车。拉希德希望在学会骑摩托车后她的生活会改变。 Although the program is 7 years old, it is still rare to see women ride motorcycles. In the Islamic nation, it is more common to see women driving cars or riding in the back of two-wheelers operated by a male relative. The WOW program is offered free by the Lahore traffic police. 虽然这个节目已经有7年了，但还是很少看到女性骑摩托车的。在伊斯兰国家，更常见的是女性驾驶汽车或乘坐男性亲戚驾驶的两轮车。WOW 计划由拉合尔交警免费提供。 "I hope this will change my life because I am dependent on my brother to pick me up and drop me to college," Rashid said on her first day at WOW.“我希望这会改变我的生活，因为我依赖我的兄弟来接我并送我上大学，”拉希德在 WOW 的第一天说道。 She said she wants to buy a motorcycle to go to college, adding that, before, there were no women drivers in her family. "Now everybody is convinced that women should be independent in their movement to schools, jobs and markets," she said. 她说，她想买一辆摩托车去上大学，并补充说，以前她家里没有女司机。“现在每个人都相信，女性在进入学校、工作和市场时应该独立，”她说。Bushra Iqbal Hussain is a social activist and director of Safe Childhood. Hussain said women driving two-wheelers has been a cultural and religious taboo. But, she said, more women are now changing the culture like they did in the 1980s with regular cars to reduce their dependence on men to move around. 布什拉·伊克巴尔·侯赛因 (Bushra Iqbal Hussain) 是一位社会活动家，也是安全童年组织的主任。侯赛因说，女性驾驶两轮车一直是一种文化和宗教禁忌。但是，她说，现在越来越多的女性正在改变这种文化，就像 20 世纪 80 年代那样，她们使用普通汽车，以减少对男性出行的依赖。 The WOW program has been in operation since 2017. But it has become increasingly popular in recent months as car prices have greatly increased and motorcycles offer a less costly choice. WOW 计划自 2017 年开始实施。但近几个月来，随着汽车价格大幅上涨以及摩托车提供了更便宜的选择，该计划变得越来越受欢迎。 The cheapest four-wheel vehicle in Pakistan costs about $8,265 compared to about $1,345 for a Chinese-made two-wheeler. The average yearly income per person in Pakistan is $1,696. 巴基斯坦最便宜的四轮车售价约为 8,265 美元，而中国制造的两轮车售价约为 1,345 美元。巴基斯坦人均年收入为 1,696 美元。 Sohail Mudassar is a traffic official in Lahore. He said the WOW program has trained at least 6,600 women, and Rashid's group was the 86th since it started. Female trainer Humaira Rafaqat added, "Young women are quick learners because they are enthusiastic and take risks." Sohail Mudassar 是拉合尔的一名交通官员。他说，WOW 项目已经培训了至少 6,600 名女性，拉希德的团队是该项目启动以来的第 86 个团队。女教练胡迈拉·拉法卡特 (Humaira Rafaqat) 补充道：“年轻女性学习速度很快，因为她们充满热情并敢于冒险。”One of them, Ghania Raza, is a 23-year-old who is working toward a doctorate in criminology. She said learning to ride a two-wheeler gave her a deep sense of achievement and empowerment: "It was like breaking a glass ceiling," she said. 其中一名 23 岁的加尼亚·拉扎 (Ghania Raza) 正在攻读犯罪学博士学位。她说，学习骑两轮车给了她一种深深的成就感和力量：“这就像打破了玻璃天花板，”她说。Shumaila Shafiq is a 36-year-old mother of three and a part-time clothing designer. She said she has been riding her husband's motorcycle to the market and other places after training in the program. Shumaila Shafiq 是一位 36 岁的三个孩子的母亲，也是一名兼职服装设计师。她说，在项目培训后，她一直骑着丈夫的摩托车去市场和其他地方。 Shafiq has also designed a short-length abaya for Muslim women to wear while operating a motorcycle. She said the long abaya is dangerous because it may get caught in the wheels of the motorcycle.沙菲克还设计了一款短款长袍，供穆斯林女性在驾驶摩托车时穿着。她说长袍很危险，因为它可能会被摩托车的轮子卡住。