Remember when I was a speaker in Alba-Iulia for TEDx? Well, one of my co-speakers made me get out from my hotel room (quitting my rehearsing, because you know how I LOVEEEEEE to slap my gums so I have to keep my timing under control because I only had 15 minutes. Wow, look at me getting sidetracked. Again) and run to the conference room.

Claudie insisted I saw this speaker. He was Gheorghe Damian, the Mayor of Ciugud.

ATTENTION! I WANT TO ILLUSTRATE!

This would be me if I were Mayor

This is Mr. Gheorghe “The Mayor” Damian

For 15 minutes and an hour after I was mesmerised and wanted to get WOWED in person by everything he’s done for his village (read upscale metropolitan neighbourhood, TBH).

And everything got me really, REALLY emotional. Why, you might ask? Because I come from a generation where people take politicians’ corruption for granted. It’s totally normalised. Resistance is futile. The main focus is to devaluate their country and generate frustration.

photos by Costrut in Ciugud 

However, every now and then you meet someone like Gheorghe Damian. Someone who’s been a Mayor in his county for over 20 years and who is respected and LOVED not by giving bribe but by improving the local’s lives significantly.

From fee wifi, to perfectly paving every street in the village – even the field roads – to renovating the community common buildings to having the county’s farm machines which everyone can use, to having their own little hospital, in Ciugud things sound too good to be true when we speak about a little Romanina village, right? The Mayor brought companies which have their own industrial zone in Ciugud and gave working places to the locals (cutting unemployment), they have bike trails, they have their own canalization and infrastructure and a part of the public lightning is made with an eolian generator. Now, he is planning to build the biggest golf course from Romania to attract tourists. This is how you use E.U. money wisely, I would say. 

Ciugud is a little county, ten kilometers away from Alba Iulia. If you happen to be in the area stop by, you’ll see what Romania could look if we invested only just a little bit of good will. 

We have to search and talk more about people like these. These humans who know that there’s more to life than expensive objects and snobbery. We have the duty to give our contribution and fight to make this world a kinder and better place. 

By the way, Mister Gheoghe Damnian was fired from PSD. I wonder why…