Isolation,helplessness,reduced access to education and services.These 3 things define the community, which in the winter and in the flooding season becomes completly isolated from the outside world, due to the lack of roads.We want to have a campaign that will raise awareness at the national level with regards to the problems of this community and have an advocacy campaign that will put public pressure on the authorities, in order to make them invest the necessary funds and construct the roads.

Păuleasca Village, Mălureni Commune, Argeș County, Region of Muntenia, Romania

The village of Păuleasca has no road.The citizens, cars and carriages travel through the river bed and this is only feasible in certain seasons.There is no alternative.When the rainy season comes or in the winter, the community is completely isolated.The emergency services can no longer reach the village, the supply of necessary goods is cut and the school becomes nonfunctional.The village has no dispensary, graveyard or kindergarten. At the same time, the community lacks a voice and the capacity to efficiently communicate with the responsible institutions.With a new and accessible road, the people will no longer be isolated and they will have permanent access to educational and medical services, free circulations and jobs.

We will defend the right to medical services, education and employment of 1200 inhabitants of Păuleasca who live in isolation, in a village that practically has no road. This 1200 villagers will have their first experience with regards to public participation and communication with authorities.
In the advocacy campaign we will target at the minimum: the Hall, the Local Council, the County Council, the Ministry of Education, the National Investment Company, the Ministry of Health, the parliamentarians of the Arges county.
Through the online campaign which seeks to raise awareness about the difficult life of the villagers, we will target at least 3000 persons.

The first step will be a local debate with the villagers about the road and pier. This will be followed by an awareness campaign about Păuleasca through video materials and a photography exhibition.
In order to make their situation well-known, the locals will give short video interviews where they will talk about the difficult situation they face. At the same time, we will create a photo archive with photos taken by the locals and with screenshots of the media coverage of Păuleasca over the years
The photos, together with the messages from the people and the video materials will be promoted through an exhibition at county (Argeș county) and national level and also through an online campaign which will make our subject more visible to the larger audience.
In the meantime, the team and the citizens prepare the advocacy campaign – an advocacy planning workshop will be organized to offer the citizens training in the tactics and actions that can be used in the campaign, and which will facilitate the necessary “know how” for them.
Based on the plan discussed with the citizens, advocacy activities will take place, in an effort to convince the authorities to repair the road.
A roundtable bringing together authorities from local, county and national level will also be organized to push the topic on a higher level.

The expected results are:
- Putting the problems of Păuleasca on the public agenda
- The monitoring of the implementation of the resolution of the Local Council
- Starting the necessary procedures in order to obtain funds for the road
- The development of self-representation skills amongst the locals
- The responsible authorities will be more aware and concentrated on the problems that the inhabitants of Păuleasca face
- The civil society will be exposed and become aware of the situation in Păuleasca

We will involve the citizens of Păuleasca in all the activities. In the beginning, because they lack the necessary skills of self-representation, we will conduct some of the necessary actions: contacting the decision-makers, writing petitions, schedule audiences with the authorities etc. All these steps will be discussed with the villagers before-hand and we will decide how to act together. For the debate we will offer information about the responsible institutions, their role and the participatory methods. We will ask them to get actively involved in these steps.We will train the citizens that show real initiative and leadership potential, to prepare them for the public audiences were they will be by our side and where they will support their cause.

Sorina (APT) has a lot of experience in advocacy and public participation. She is living near Păuleasca and has a very good understanding of the mentality of the citizens in rural areas.
Denisa Diaconu is a local school teacher in Păuleasca. She often raised awareness of its problems to the decision makers and the larger public through videos in which she showed the condition of the road when she could no longer reach her students.
Oana and Raluca are working for CeRe – a support organization in Bucharest. Both Oana and Raluca are experienced in community organizing and advocacy. They will offer the local team all the support needed for advocacy, and the mobilization of the community. They will also help the team in their efforts to reach out to state institutions at national level.

1 Management: part time, coordination and admin staff = 11.800 euro
2. Community organizator and mentor = 15.500 euro
3 . Travel and meetings= 2.500 euro
4. Advocacy= 3.700 euro
5. Office supplies and related= 1.500
Total 35.000 euro

Inspirational examples of other community areas.
Feedback on our approach to empower the local citizens in the advocacy campaign.