The women of a village in Poland decided to take matters into their own hands – literally – by paving all of its footpaths themselves after the authorities had failed to do so.
Members of the koło gospodyń wiejskich (a type of women’s club common in rural areas, usually translated as “country housewives association”) in Romaszki, a village in eastern Poland with a population of around 400, had grown tired of waiting for local authorities to begin constructing the footpaths.
The council of Rossosz, the administrative district in which Romaszki is located, had promised the villagers building materials but was unable to provide contractors to lay down the paving. So, last year, the women’s circle decided to take on the task themselves.
“The mayor gave us the materials and we, as an act for the good of the community, laid a total of one kilometre of paving stones through the whole of Romaszki,” Edyta Pawlukiewicz from the housewives association told regional newspaper Dziennik Wschodni earlier this month.
“Our husbands showed us how to do it. It turned out not to be such a difficult job. Later, they supervised us, and somehow, by trial and error, we became the pavers,” she added.
The initiative became so popular among locals that the women decided to continue the paving themselves until the whole village was accounted for.
The paving of footpaths in Romaszki, which had previously been uneven dirt paths, took the women a long time to complete as work commitments meant that many of them could only dedicate time to the pavement on weekends.
On days when paving work was being carried out, large groups of locals would gather at the site to assist in both the laying of the pavement but also in providing refreshments for the women.
“Recently, almost 40 people showed up! That’s a lot for a village with about 400 people,” Iwona Zieniuk, mayor of Romaszki, told newspaper Super Express.
“We have ladies who do not lay down the paving stones, but prepare refreshments for all of us at the end of work. So it’s not that we are only working hard but we are also eating well,” she added.
The meals served by and to the members of the housewives association are typically traditional Polish dishes such as bigos stew, żurek soup and pierogi. In an interview with broadcaster Polsat, the association boasted that, as well as paving the village’s footpaths, the women were also able to make 1,500 pierogi in two hours.
The final section of paving in Romaszki, on the path leading from the church towards the local cemetery, was finished at the end of July after the local parish priest had asked if the women could do it, reports Dziennik Wschodni.
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Main image credit: KGW Rumianki
Anna Hackett is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a recent graduate of European Studies from Trinity College Dublin and has had previous journalistic experience with the Irish Independent News & Media group.
