I know it has been a very long time since I posted, so for those of you who have anxiously been awaiting an update on project progress, I am finally coming through for you. In the next couple of days I will post an update on the progress to get to Romania, but for now I would like to post an article I came across that a friend posted. It is not long, but it explains why the need in Romania is so great and puts a name to the problem of young pregnancies in that country. Getting married and having children at a young age is common in that country, especially with those who are connected to the Gypsy community, but that mindset doesn't stop with families who can afford to take care of an infant. With the cultural acceptance of young pregnancies it makes the burden that much greater for the local orphanages and children's homes, due to the sheer number of young people having children that have no way to care for them.
A 23-year-old woman is claiming that she is the world’s youngest grandmother. Despite urging her daughter not to follow in her footsteps and stay in school, Stanescu told The Sun that Maria left to get married when she was just 10 and gave birth to her first child the following year.Rifca Stanescu gave birth when she was just 12 years old and two years ago her daughter Maria had a baby at the age of 11.
"I am happy to be a grandmother but wished more for Maria," Stanescu told the paper.
Stanescu also revealed that she eloped with jewellery salesman Ionel Stanescu when she was 11 and he was 13.
She fled with her boyfriend because she was worried her father would force her to marry someone else in the village of Investi in Romania.
Her mother, also named Maria, became a great grandmother at just 40 years old.
