圖源VOA慢速英語，侵刪
Fatima Ali was in her final year of studying
法蒂瑪·阿里畢業前的最後一年
when Iraq started a full lockdown1 in March to control the spread of the coronavirus. Forced2 by the pandemic to stay home, she spent a lot of time on social media, looking for something to do.
伊拉克於3月開啟了全面封鎖以控制新冠病毒傳播。由於疫情，她被迫待在家裡，她把很多時間都花在了社交媒體上，想找點事情做。
Lockdown: n. 封鎖
Forced: adj. 被迫的；強迫的；用力的；不自然的 v. 強迫（force的過去式）
Then an idea came to her.
然後，她想到了一個點子。
Six years ago, she visited America on an exchange program.
6年前，她曾因交換項目來過美國。
She and other students visited a Vermont cheese factory.
她和其他一些學生到訪了佛蒙特州的一家奶酪廠。
Cheese: n. [食品] 奶酪；乾酪；要人
There nice, wooden plates showed different kinds of cheese.
在那裡，人們會用木盤來展示各種各樣的奶酪。
I liked it… I said to myself, why not be the first to do it in Baghdad?
我太喜歡這樣的方式了……我對自己說，我為何不在巴格達（伊拉克首都）開啟這種做法呢？
She took a free online business course.
阿里上了一些免費的線上商務課，
And she researched cheeses and wooden plates available in the Iraqi capital.
她還研究了巴格達可以買到的奶酪和木盤。
Months later, 22-year-old Ali is successful.
數月後，22歲的阿里成功了。
She sells her cheese boards, making a small amount of money.
阿里賣掉了許多奶酪板，賺了一些錢。
She also has more than 2,000 followers on the social media service Instagram.
另外，阿里在社交媒體Instaram上有2000多個粉絲。
A growing number of Iraqi women are using pandemic restrictions to create new businesses in their homes.
伊拉克越來越多的女性都通過疫情期間的限制措施而在家創辦了新的事業。
It's a way to get past the discrimination and harassment3 that often come with working in Iraq's society.
這是一種方式，可以免受女性在伊拉克社會工作所遭受的歧視和騷擾。
Harassment: n. 騷擾
It also provides additional money as the economy worsens.
而且，在經濟惡化的情況下，也能為他們提供額外的收入來源。
On a recent day, Ali cut up and arranged4 cheeses, dried fruit and nuts as she talked about her dreams.
最近的某一天，阿里一邊聊著自己的夢想，一邊將奶酪、乾果、堅果切開放好。
Arranged: adj. 安排的
She wants to go to cooking school outside Iraq and open her own cooking school in the country.
阿里想去其他國家的烹飪學校，有朝一日在伊拉克開辦自己的烹飪學校。
This is just the beginning. I'm still developing myself, she said.
這只是個開始，我還在成長進步，阿里如是說道。
The words on her purple T-shirt said, You Have to Love Yourself.
她身上穿著的紫色T恤上寫著「記得愛自己哦。」
Rawan Al-Zubaidi is a business partner at an Iraqi non-governmental organization (NGO)
拉萬·祖貝迪是伊拉克某非政府組織的商業夥伴，
that supports young business people and their new, small companies.
該組織支年輕的商務人士及其創辦的小型新公司。
There has been an increase in home businesses since the start of the pandemic.
自疫情開始以來，家庭商務的數量就有增長，
These include women making food deliveries, sweets and hand-made cloth products.
包括女性製作食物、甜品和手工製作的產品。
It's a solution to obstacles that Iraqi women face when they try to find a job, she said.
拉萬表示，女性嘗試找工作時都會面臨各種阻礙，家庭商務就是一種解決方案。
She said there were many women in Iraq whose husbands or fathers would not let them work.
她表示，伊拉克有很多女性的丈夫或者父親都不讓他們工作。
Some Iraqi women can't find a job because conservative families or husbands consider
一些伊拉克女性找不到工作，因為保守的家庭或丈夫認為
that women talking directly with other men on the job will bring shame on them, she said.
女性直接與工作場合的男性交談會給他們帶來恥辱，拉完如是說道。
The number of women who work in Iraq is very low.
伊拉克的職場女性人數很少。
As of 2018, only 12.3 percent of women of working age were employed or looking for work, the United Nations reports.
自2018年起，只有12.3%達到工作年齡的女性有工作或者正在求職，這是聯合國報告中指出的。
Tamara Amir manages a Facebook page to educate Iraqi women about their rights.
塔瑪拉·埃米爾經營著一個臉書主頁，旨在讓伊拉克女性明白自己的權利。
She said she receives many calls each day from women facing sexual harassment at work.
她表示自己每天都會接到很多電話，都是女性在職場面臨性騷擾的問題。
Often, they report feeling they have to give their male boss something in return to get a job or to advance.
這些女性通常都說她們覺得自己必須要給男性老闆些匯報才能得到工作或者升職。
However, Ali's parents have helped her with her business.
不過，阿里的父母已經幫助她開辦了自己的事業。
She said it is secure, and it also means that she does not have to go outside and mix with people.
阿里表示，這樣很安全，而且這也意味著她不必去外面跟別人交涉了。
Her mother helps her prepare her cheese plates.
阿里的母親幫助阿里準備了乾酪盤。
She uses a well-known service to send her goods to buyers.
阿里通過一種知名服務來把商品送給買家。
At first, she received about two orders each week.
起初，阿里每周會接到大概2單左右。
Now, she gets many orders each day and works hard to complete them.
如今，阿里每天都會接到很多單，而且都在努力完成這些訂單。
Mariam Khzarjian is a 31-year-old Iraqi-Armenian.
瑪麗亞姆·卡扎金31歲，她是伊拉克裔亞美尼亞人。
She worked as an assistant in an engineering company for seven years.
她在某工程公司做了7年的助理。
She quit in late 2018 because she felt there was no way to improve her position.
2018年末，她離職了，因為她覺得職位沒有晉升空間。
She started her own home business selling handmade objects inspired by her family.
她開辦了自己的家庭商務，賣出了許多手工製品，這也是受到了家人的啟發。
Many of the men in her past once worked as carpenters5, or professional woodworkers.
她家有很多人之前都做過專業的木匠。
carpenters : n. 木匠（carpenter的複數）
She called her business Khzar, which is Armenian for the art of cutting metals and woods.
她給自己的事業取名為Khar，這個詞在亞美尼亞語裡是切割金屬和木頭的藝術。
Its slogan is wear a story.
其標語是：每一個穿戴品背後都有一個故事。
Khzar designs are based on telling stories and building emotional communication with the clients6.
她們做的設計都是基於故事的講述，與顧客建立情感交流。
Clients: n. 顧客；客戶端；委託方（client的複數）；救濟對象；應受帳款
During the pandemic, she worked on her designs.
疫情期間，她專於自己的設計。
The move toward online shopping helped her business grow in a way she could not have imagined.
線上購物的發展幫助她的事業以她未曾想像的方式發展著。
Online became the only way to reach clients, and they in turn became more loyal and more confident about my art,
線上購物已成為與客戶接觸的唯一方式，這樣的方式使得客戶更忠誠，對我的藝術品也更有信心，
because they are buying something without trying it, Khzarjian said.
因為他們連試都沒試就買了，瑪麗亞姆如是說道。
I'm Susan Shand.
蘇珊·尚德為您播報。