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Fourteen-year-old Luyanda Hlali walks 10 kilometers to school.
14岁的卢扬达·哈里步行10公里去上学。
She lives in the little village of Stratford in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.
她住在南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省的斯特拉特福德小村庄里。
There are no school buses.
没有校车。
There is only the long road where robbers and bad men can harm her.
只有漫长的道路，强盗和坏人可能会伤害她。
Luyanda is one of tens of thousands of children in South Africa who live a long way from their public school.
卢扬达是南非数万名家离公立学校很远的儿童之一。
The communities they live in are mostly rural and poor.
他们居住的社区大多是农村和贫困地区。
Observers say students having to travel long distances to public schools shows the country's inequality when it comes to attending school.
观察人士表示，学生们不得不长途跋涉去公立学校上学，这表明了这个国家在上学方面的不平等。
It has been nearly 30 years since the nation ended its apartheid system and the African National Congress party took power bringing democratic change.
自从南非结束种族隔离制度，非洲人国民大会党掌权带来民主变革以来，已经过去了近30年。
There is a lack of school transportation paid for by the government.
缺少由政府拨款支持的学校交通工具。
Girls face the threat of attack and robberies are common.
女孩面临袭击的威胁，抢劫很常见。
Parents, local leaders, and activists say the situation increases existing inequalities.
家长、当地领导人和活动人士表示，这种情况加剧了现有的不平等。
The World Bank says South Africa is the most unequal country in the world.
世界银行表示，南非是世界上最不平等的国家。
In KwaZulu-Natal, campaigners and activists are pressing government officials to provide transportation for over 200,000 schoolchildren.
在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省，活动人士和积极分子正在向政府官员施压，要求其为20多万名学童提供交通工具。
The children have to walk three kilometers or more to school.
孩子们不得不步行三公里或更多的路去上学。
President Cyril Ramaphosa's government policy requires officials to provide transportation for the students who have to walk that distance.
总统西里尔·拉马福萨的政府政策要求官员为不得不步行那么远的学生提供交通工具。
But school buses are not a concern in an area where unemployment is over 25 percent and people are poor.
但在这个失业率超过25%、人们贫穷的地区，校车并不是一个令人担忧的问题。
A 2020 Amnesty International report said a child's experience in South Africa "still very much depends on where they are born, how wealthy they are, and the color of their skin."
国际特赦组织2020年的一份报告称，南非儿童的经历“在很大程度上仍取决于他们的出生地，富裕程度和肤色。”
South Africa's education system, the report said, "has deep roots in the legacy of apartheid, but which are also not being effectively tackled" by the government.
报告称，南非的教育体系“根深蒂固地植根于种族隔离的遗产，但政府也没有有效解决这些问题”。
In KwaZulu-Natal, more than 30 percent of the province's 12.4 million people are unemployed.
在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省，该省1240万人中有超过30%的人失业。
Many say they have to choose between buying food or paying $19 a month for public transportation.
许多人表示，他们必须在购买食物和每月支付19美元的公共交通费用之间做出选择。
"Sometimes these children go to school without eating breakfast," said Bongiwe Nhlangothi, Luyanda's grandmother.
卢扬达的祖母邦吉维·恩兰戈蒂说：“有时这些孩子连早餐都不吃就去上学。”
She is the most scared when her grandchildren are traveling.
当孙子孙女们出门时，她是最害怕的。
“There are drug addicts around here, when they come across the children in the early hours of the morning, they rob them of their phones, threaten them with knives and try to rape them," Nhlangothi said.
恩兰戈蒂说：“这里有吸毒成瘾的人，当他们在凌晨遇到孩子们时，他们会抢走他们的手机，用刀威胁他们，并试图强奸他们。”
A school principal in a village about 50 kilometers from the coalmining town of Dundee, told of his struggle to get more school buses approved.
在距离煤矿小镇邓迪约50公里的一个村庄里，一名校长讲述了他为获批更多校车所做的努力。
The principal said some of the school's female students had been raped by local criminals.
这名校长表示，学校的一些女学生被当地的犯罪分子强奸了。
The school has two old buses, but they can only carry about 65 children.
这所学校有两辆旧巴士，但它们只能载大约65个孩子。
There are more than 400 students at the school.
这所学校有400多名学生。
The principal said he fears one of the buses could permanently break down or crash.
这名校长表示，他担心其中一辆巴士可能会永久性抛锚或撞车。
In September 2022, reports said 18 students were killed in the province when their overcrowded minivan crashed on the way to school in the town of Pongola.
2022年9月，有报道称，该省18名学生在彭古拉镇上学途中因乘坐的过度拥挤的小型面包车发生车祸而死亡。
Some parents have decided to pay to have their children to live closer to their schools.
一些家长决定花钱让孩子住在离学校更近的地方。
But boarding a student is costly and leaves parents without help at home.
但寄宿学生的费用很高，而且这样也会让在家的家长失去了帮手。
Activist Tebogo Tshesane works for the nonprofit organization Equal Education.
活动人士特博戈就职于非营利性组织“平等教育”。
He said the campaign for better school transportation across KwaZulu-Natal started back in 2014.
他说，夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省改善学校交通状况的运动始于2014年。
It started after students wrote letters because they were walking for up to two hours to school.
它开始于学生写信之后，因为他们步行两个小时去学校。
Government information says 1,148 schools in KwaZulu-Natal are on a waiting list for school transportation paid for by the government.
政府信息显示，夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省有1148所学校在等待用于改善学校交通工具的政府拨款。
The provincial department of education did not wish to talk to The Associated Press for this story.
该省教育部门不愿就此事接受美联社的采访。
The answer from the education department is that there is no money, so the children keep walking.
该省教育部门的回答是没有钱，所以孩子们继续步行去上学。
I'm Dan Novak.
丹·诺瓦克为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
