There are quite a lot of stereotypes regarding the role and place of women in society. One of them is related to the choice of profession, when the work is divided into «female» and «male». We are convinced that there is no such division, since everyone can freely choose what they see fit by listening to themselves. On the eve of Communal Workers Day, we spoke with Nina Andriyivna Ishchuk, Head of Water and Sewerage Networks Maintenance and Repair Department, who chose her own path – a job she loves and performs professionally

«We have two daughters in our family, and our Dad is a builder so we have always been home-built since childhood. By the time Dad arrived from work, we had already made a plan and were starting to build something new»

«I’m used to working with men. For 25 years I worked in Berdychiv as a workshop for carpentry repair and production at EHOP (editorial housing and operational part), where most of my subordinates were men»

«Initially I was a technician, then a contract economist and a claimant, and later headed the building and construction department. From 2019 I am the head of the department for operation and repair of water and sewerage networks. My responsibilities include informing the city about network breakdowns, drawing up a plan for emergency work, allocating repair crews to facilities, monitoring their work»

«For those who work with me, I value honesty, efficiency and dedication to my work»

«I have an irregular working day. My attitude to this is absolutely normal, because in my life I am used to always work as much as I need. There are times when you have to leave at night: this is a routine work, and emergency. Sometimes it happens that at six o’clock in the morning I come home, take a shower, drink coffee, go to work at 7:30 and work until the evening. I live near my job. If something happens – I get a call and in seven minutes I’m already at work»

«Sometimes we are told that we are not in a hurry to eliminate the effects of gusts. People should take into account that in the event of an emergency, we can not always immediately start the work. Because before the excavation, we must call the representatives of the heating system, REM, gas company, cable service»

«We liked learning, we had very good and highly qualified teachers. I often remember with warmth those days when my group and I went to collective farms to collect apples and beets. A very friendly and fun atmosphere prevailed during these works. At one time I also got a specialty of accountant-economist»

«In my life there were different situations. I once traveled to Poland and all my documents, even my car were stolen. But nothing, good people helped, and I was able to return home»

«My biggest dream is to keep all my relatives and close people healthy. The daughter lives in London, works there as a lawyer. We meet with Alina and granddaughters 2- 3 times a year. Of course, I would like more. I really like London, every resident there is doing something to make the city better. In this place, almost every house has a patch of land that the owners are very careful about. I like that too»

«When I had my first granddaughter, I really enjoyed going with a baby carriage to walk to Greenwich Park – all around beauty and comfort. Greenwich Park is my favorite in London, there are so many flower beds. In general, I love to travel: I visited Spain, Italy, and France. England drove almost everything. I would like to visit the Arab Emirates. I want to see their architecture, their gardens and fountains»

«I used to love embroidery. I have many paintings, and I still love to cook … My favorite holiday is Easter. Very often I celebrate it with my daughter and her family in London. We, the whole family (together with our granddaughters) go to church from the evening service. There is a very beautiful church in central London, there are always crowded, many Ukrainians who often come to work in embroideries with well-decorated baskets. When we get back from the church, the granddaughters are already eating Easter bread in the car. British Easter traditions are different from ours. The British hide chocolate eggs from children and grandchildren, and they look for them. These eggs are considered a present for children»

«I love Zhytomyr. Since 2003 I live and work here. I do not imagine that for some reason I will have to live somewhere abroad, because at the thought of it I feel longing for my city, my country. From an airplane porthole, Ukraine looks like no other country in the world, because nowhere else are there so many rivers, forests, lakes, as many greens and flowers as there are in our country»