[ti:Training Program in Pakistan Helps Afghan Women]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2023-10-05]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]In a small building in Peshawar, Pakistan, a group of Afghan women watch a teacher show them how to use a sewing machine.
[00:14.69]The training program was established last year by Mahra Basheer who saw an increasing number of women coming from neighboring Afghanistan. 
[00:29.01]Since the Taliban took over in 2021, women in Afghanistan have faced growing restrictions and an economic crisis.
[00:43.08]Basheer created the program to provide choices for women to support themselves.
[00:51.51]She teaches sewing, digital skills and beauty treatments.
[00:57.88]And Basheer quickly found hundreds of women wanting to join the program.
[01:06.41]"If we get assistance, I think we will be able to train between 250 and 500 students at one time, empowering women who can play an important role in the community," Basheer said.
[01:26.24]Officials say hundreds of thousands of Afghans have traveled to Pakistan since the Taliban took over in 2021.
[01:40.56]Even before then, 1.5 million registered refugees were in the country. 
[01:49.55]This is one of the largest such populations in the world, the United Nations refugee agency says.
[02:00.51]More than a million others are estimated to live there unregistered.
[02:08.82]Struggling with an economic crisis of its own, Pakistan's government is increasingly worried about the number of Afghan refugees. 
[02:27.88]Many Afghans have been arrested in recent months. Lawyers and officials say they do not have the correct legal documents to live in Pakistan.
[02:38.70]Basheer said that her main aim was expanding operations for Afghan women. 
[02:46.69]But she has also included some Pakistani women in the program to increase their choices in the conservative area.
[02:58.51]The training program lasts three months. 
[03:04.63]When they complete the program, the women direct their attention to earning enough money to survive. Many women begin their own businesses.
[03:18.93]Fatima, a nineteen-year-old from Afghanistan, completed the training program.
[03:27.05]She said she wants to open a beauty salon in Peshawar.
[03:33.12]It is currently banned in her home country just a few hours away.
[03:40.67]"Right now my plan is to start a salon at home. Then to work very professionally so that I can eventually open a very big salon for myself," she said.
[03:57.57]I'm Gena Bennett.