FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Afghanistan & a Female cabbie
When Afghan taxi driver Sara Bahai has male passengers in her cab, she takes the chance to lobby them on female rights and she hopes the country’s next president will also listen to her arguments. Bahai has been driving the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif city for 10 years, during which Afghanistan has experienced huge changes, including limited improvements in the lives of women.
Now, ahead of the Saturday’s run-off election, she says the new president must push ahead with reforms. “Sometimes I argue with male passengers all through the journey to convince them a woman driving a taxi isn’t a bad or un-Islamic thing,” Bahai, who is thought to have been Afghanistan’s first-ever-female taxi driver, told AFP.
“Women should be given bigger roles, they should be given seats as ministers. And female teachers should be paid more to help female education. “I see a lot of changes for Afghan women in the past few years. Many are setting up businesses to do whatever they want.” “I am not afraid of anyone now,” said Bahai, 40, who is unmarried and took up her job to provide for her two adopted sons and her sister’s seven children.
“When I first got the licence after the fall of the Taliban, everybody laughed at me.
But working has emboldened me and I want to show that women are not just meant to marry and have children. “Many women, when they see their taxi driver is female, remove their veils or burqas and talk, they trust me more,” she said, adding she earns about $9 a day.
When Afghan taxi driver Sara Bahai has male passengers in her cab, she takes the chance to lobby them on female rights and she hopes the country’s next president will also listen to her arguments. Bahai has been driving the streets of Mazar-i-Sharif city for 10 years, during which Afghanistan has experienced huge changes, including limited improvements in the lives of women.
Now, ahead of the Saturday’s run-off election, she says the new president must push ahead with reforms. “Sometimes I argue with male passengers all through the journey to convince them a woman driving a taxi isn’t a bad or un-Islamic thing,” Bahai, who is thought to have been Afghanistan’s first-ever-female taxi driver, told AFP.
“Women should be given bigger roles, they should be given seats as ministers. And female teachers should be paid more to help female education. “I see a lot of changes for Afghan women in the past few years. Many are setting up businesses to do whatever they want.” “I am not afraid of anyone now,” said Bahai, 40, who is unmarried and took up her job to provide for her two adopted sons and her sister’s seven children.
“When I first got the licence after the fall of the Taliban, everybody laughed at me.
But working has emboldened me and I want to show that women are not just meant to marry and have children. “Many women, when they see their taxi driver is female, remove their veils or burqas and talk, they trust me more,” she said, adding she earns about $9 a day.
Comments