Gaza Mother Is First Woman Taxi Driver in Territory
2020-11-27
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A mother of five children in Gaza is the Palestinian territory's first woman taxi driver.
2Thirty-nine-year-old Naela Abu Jibba says she likes her job although some people make fun of her for doing it.
3"I get lots of offensive (social media) comments," she recently told Reuters news agency.
4"But the encouraging comments are far greater."
5Abu Jibba says some of the negative comments target her driving abilities.
6"Some say this is a job for men, others say we cause accidents, when the fact is, women are calmer and more careful drivers than men," she said.
7Abu Jibba only takes women in her taxi.
8They must request service ahead of time.
9Many tell her they feel calmer being driven by her than men.
10"When a woman exits a hair-dresser shop - going to a party dressed and wearing makeup - she feels better riding with a woman," she said.
11One rider, 28-year-old Sousan Abu Ateila, told Reuters she does "feel more comfortable."
12Abu Jibba studied and got a degree in community service.
13But she decided to start her taxi business after failing to find work in her field.
14She drives a white Kia vehicle and wears a top showing the name of her taxi service - Al-Mukhtara - which means chieftain in Arabic.
15Abu Jibba says she hopes to expand her business once the COVID-19 pandemic passes.
16The health crisis has led to big reductions in travel and social activities in Gaza.
17The territory of two million people has reported more than 12,000 virus cases and at least 56 deaths.
18Abu Jibba says she dreams of, one day, owning a whole Al-Mukhtara fleet.
19I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A mother of five children in Gaza is the Palestinian territory's first woman taxi driver. 2Thirty-nine-year-old Naela Abu Jibba says she likes her job although some people make fun of her for doing it. 3"I get lots of offensive (social media) comments," she recently told Reuters news agency. "But the encouraging comments are far greater." 4Abu Jibba says some of the negative comments target her driving abilities. 5"Some say this is a job for men, others say we cause accidents, when the fact is, women are calmer and more careful drivers than men," she said. 6Abu Jibba only takes women in her taxi. They must request service ahead of time. Many tell her they feel calmer being driven by her than men. 7"When a woman exits a hair-dresser shop - going to a party dressed and wearing makeup - she feels better riding with a woman," she said. 8One rider, 28-year-old Sousan Abu Ateila, told Reuters she does "feel more comfortable." 9Abu Jibba studied and got a degree in community service. But she decided to start her taxi business after failing to find work in her field. 10She drives a white Kia vehicle and wears a top showing the name of her taxi service - Al-Mukhtara - which means chieftain in Arabic. 11Abu Jibba says she hopes to expand her business once the COVID-19 pandemic passes. The health crisis has led to big reductions in travel and social activities in Gaza. The territory of two million people has reported more than 12,000 virus cases and at least 56 deaths. 12Abu Jibba says she dreams of, one day, owning a whole Al-Mukhtara fleet. 13I'm Bryan Lynn. 14Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 15We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. 16________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18encourage - v. to make someone more hopeful and sure of themselves 19negative - adj. harmful or bad, not wanted 20comfortable -adj. producing a good feeling physically 21chieftain - n. chief, the head or leader of a group 22fleet - n. a group of vehicles that work together and are controlled by one owner or company