On the quiet road that runs from Char Kaua ferry ghat to Laharhat launch terminal, 22 kilometers outside Barishal city, an electric rickshaw hums along with uncommon cargo: a woman driver who has decided that dignity means work, not permission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her name is Helena<\/strong> \u2014 just Helena, she says \u2014 and this is only her second day<\/strong> driving. \u201cI used to be a mason\u2019s helper,\u201d she explains, wiping dust from the rickshaw\u2019s worn dashboard. \u201cThat work crushed my body. Now I\u2019m trying this.\u201d The pay as a helper was Tk 700 a day<\/strong>. With the rickshaw, she rents an old battery model for a Tk 300 daily deposit<\/strong> (\u201cjoma\u201d), which includes some electricity costs. After that, \u201cTk 200\u2013300 remains<\/strong> at day\u2019s end,\u201d she says. \u201cIf I had my own rickshaw, I wouldn\u2019t need to pay the deposit. I could keep my girls fed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Helena lives in a rented room near the ferry ghat, paying Tk 3,000 a month<\/strong>. She does not live with her husband \u2014 \u201che married many times,\u201d she shrugs \u2014 and is raising three daughters<\/strong> aged 8, 12 and 14<\/strong>. The two eldest work as live-in domestic helpers, paid with food and clothing rather than wages; the youngest stays home. \u201cI bought her a used smartphone for Tk 4,000<\/strong> so she has something to do,\u201d Helena says, acknowledging the compromises poverty imposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The route is forgiving by rural standards: a wide road with little heavy traffic, used by buses only occasionally. The rickshaw is not. \u201cThe owner wouldn\u2019t give me a new one because I\u2019m new,\u201d she says, coaxing speed from the tired motor. She paid a man to teach her to drive; he also took a phone from her and then stopped answering calls. Still, passengers are getting on. Some even tip. \u201cDo people\u2019s comments fill my stomach?\u201d she asks. \u201cPeople\u2019s words won\u2019t feed me.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Helena says male drivers don\u2019t harass her. \u201cThey can\u2019t talk down to me,<\/strong>\u201d she says flatly, eyes on the road. What she wants now is simple: a chance to work without the penalty of daily rent. \u201cWith my own rickshaw, I could manage food and school for my daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Laharhat terminal, she smiles when handed the fare \u2014 a little more than agreed, this time \u2014 and nudges the rickshaw back toward Char Kaua, blending into the steady stream of small craft ferrying lives across the Kirtankhola. Asked her full name, she waves it away. \u201cHelena \u2014 that\u2019s enough.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the quiet road that runs from Char Kaua ferry ghat to Laharhat launch terminal, 22 kilometers outside Barishal city, an electric rickshaw hums along with uncommon cargo: a woman driver who has decided that dignity means work, not permission. Her name is Helena \u2014 just Helena, she says \u2014 and this is only her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6773,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6765\/revisions\/6773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}