Republic of Moldova: Talking About Reproductive Health - in Schools and with Peers

Introducing reproductive health in school curricula met with some initial resistance in a conservative town in the northwestern area of the Republic of Moldova. But careful dialogue with community leaders and parents led to a successful pilot project in Family Life Education. A peer education network, which also aims to promote healthier behaviour among young people, reaches out to a broader population, including orphans and out-of-school youth.

* * *

DREPCAUTI, Republic of Moldova —Traditionally, reproductive health, family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections were not subjects for open discussion among adults, let alone students, in this largely rural, conservative area. But this town now hosts a groundbreaking family life education project that has managed to get people talking about these sensitive, but important, subjects.

They were not easy topics to broach. “We did have problems in the beginning,” says Vitalie Lemni, the principal of the town's secondary school. “Initially, many people here did not understand what we were trying to do in introducing these subjects. Some thought we were promoting sex among adolescents.”

But the Drepcauti school district overcame the initial fears by initiating an outreach programme that paid attention to the community's concerns. Trained community volunteers, along with selected teachers, lobbied influential political and religious leaders, convincing them that family life education would be good for the community.

“We overcome objections from parents by inviting them to the sessions and also to ‘parent's hours' where we have a chance to go one-on-one with them and answer any questions they may have about the material,” says Dorina, one of the teacher's trained to educate students on healthy lifestyles.

" We can no longer be indifferent to issues such as adolescent sexuality and the rise of STIs and HIV. In order to have a healthy society, we need this information. "

--Anatol Ciontu, Orthodox priest in Drepcauti

“UNFPA's role here has been vital in getting this project approved by the authorities and also in providing us with teaching materials, supplies and a computer with Internet connections,” says Lemni. “The Fund also arranged for medical doctors to deliver illustrated lectures on reproductive health to the faculty, students and their parents.”

The pilot project on family life education began in 2004 and finished in the summer of 2005, covering 35 schools across the country. Drepcauti's secondary school, the only one in its district to have been selected, also houses the UNFPA Information and Documentation Centre on Reproductive Health and Family Life Education. “Our documentation centre is not only open to students and teachers, but the entire community,” says out Lemni proudly. “It is now a valuable resource containing books, magazines, teaching materials and the computer corner. We also train teachers from other communities here.”

Even the town's priest, Anatol Ciontu, who was sceptical at first, is now a strong supporter of the initiative. “Our Orthodox Church represents the community at large,” he observes. “We can no longer be indifferent to issues such as adolescent sexuality and the rise of STIs and HIV. In order to have a healthy society, we need this information. The church cannot afford to hide from reality.”

Back in Chisinau, the capital, the Ministry of Education is very pleased with the outcome of the pilot phase. “We are preparing to introduce family life education as a required course in all schools in the country, covering grades 1 through 12,” says Nadejda Velisco, Head of the Department of Pre-University Studies in the Ministry of Education. “The pilot phase has proved that this material is essential knowledge for adolescents.”

UNFPA has been instrumental in helping the Ministry of Education develop teacher's training manuals and student handbooks. In all, 116 teachers became trainers. They, in turn, will train another 3,000 teachers throughout the country in family life education. “By next year we expect most of the schools in this country will have at least one functioning family life education course,” says Velisco.

To complement formal education in school classrooms, the country is also utilizing its growing network of peer educators to bring family life education to a broader group of young people, including orphans and out-of-school youth. Again, UNFPA is playing a central role through its regional Y-PEER network. Since the beginning of 2004, 45 peer educators have been trained in reproductive health and family life education, including the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV, through a UNFPA-funded programme.

Y-PEER volunteers are especially active in the withering summer months, visiting summer camps around the country and giving special half-day training sessions on healthy lifestyles, with special attention to reproductive health issues. Most of these camps are set aside for the country's burgeoning population of ‘social orphans', those children coming from families too poor to care for them.

At the summer camp Alunelul, some 30 kilometers south of Chisinau, 180 children and adolescents from State Orphanage Number 2 in the capital spend two weeks here participating in sports, enjoy nature and attending educational sessions. “The orphanages in this country are overcrowded and lack sufficient funds,” says Galina Procop, Director of Orphanage Number 2. “Most of the kids here are social orphans. Out of 700 children and adolescents in my orphanage, only 240 have lost both parents.” Usually the father is either dead or missing and the unemployed mothers are too indigent to take care of their children. “Poverty has split families and ruined lives here,” she continues. “It's an epidemic in this country.”

In the camp's cafeteria, three UNFPA-trained peer educators hold a session on ‘family values' with 35 adolescents, aged 13-18. The half-day session consists mostly of interactive activities and lively question and answer sessions. “These kids definitely need this information,” says Y-PEER focal point Nastya Ostasco.

Just 19 years old, Nastya is attending the Academy of Economics in the capital. “I've been a peer educator since September 2004,” she says with an infectious grin. “I find this work very rewarding because we can actually influence behaviour and raise issues that these kids would never discuss with an adult, such as sexuality and how to prevent venereal diseases.”

Currently, five groups of peer educators are traveling around to various summer camps giving educational sessions on a wide variety of reproductive health and family life issues. “In all, we will reach over 500 adolescents in summer camps this year (2005),” says Nastya. “So far we have visited 11 camps.”

The Republic of Moldova's dual approach to promoting healthy lifestyles seems to be working. Though adolescents continue to be disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections and HIV, the rates are falling. “Our strategy is based on promoting healthy lifestyles among adolescents, before they develop risky behaviour patterns,” points out Nadejda Velisco.

--Don Hinrichsen