“In five years I’d like to be done with my PhD and have a clear path set for becoming a judge.”

Inga Spînu, 35, from Moldova

 

I consider myself very lucky to be able to manage both a career and motherhood. The only way I can do it is with family support. My husband and I have a two-year-old son, and since June 2016 I have been working full-time at an institute for justice. I grew up in a small village 75 km away from Chisinau. My mother spends the week with us (returning to our home town on the weekends) to look after my son while I work. He is in kindergarten but the school day is very short and he is often sick. So I rely on my mother to fill in the gaps. There are no childcare facilities here and in-home care is too expensive.

My husband is also incredibly supportive. When I started my masters in law program, my son was only three months old.  Fortunately the program was at night, which made it easier to be with him during the day. But my husband used to bring our son in to school during the breaks so that I could feed him. He made it so that I didn't have to choose between my education and being a mother. I’m glad that he and I planned together to have a child and that my studies and career plans were always factors.

In fact, I worry that a lot of young people don’t get enough of the right information about having babies and family planning from their parents. They get nothing from school and so many of them turn to the Internet – but that isn’t a solution. Sex education is needed at school. But what and how they teach young people is also important, because not everything that is promoted is good. You hear a lot nowadays about protection, which gives young people incentives to have more and earlier sex. Sex education needs to help youth to develop emotionally and psychologically to be ready for relationship. Boys can be very pushy and girls need to learn to say no.

I plan to go back to university for a PhD. Having a family and a child has helped me realise what is important in life. It is hard work but rather than slow me down, it motivates me to perform well and strive for more.

Learn more about the work of the Youth Inclusion Project in Moldova

---

 

Back to Homepage - Youth Inclusion Project