March 2019: A Turning Point of Determination and Resistance March 2019 was a month of clear turning points, marked by an intense mix of hope and disappointment. As the atmosphere in Rasova grew increasingly tense, the actions of the local administration seemed more and more arbitrary and unscrupulous. For me, this month was a time when I was forced to put everything I had built so far on the line—for justice, for transparency, and above all, for a community that deserved to be heard. At the beginning of the month, there was an important assembly in the community hall. The topics were supposed to address general village development issues. But I knew this was my chance to ask concrete questions about the missing funds and the dubious land sales. In a room full of tension and distrust, I stood up and asked those very questions. The reaction was, as I expected, a mix of defensiveness and nervous silence. Mayor Maria Mitu tried to downplay my questions and ignore them as if they were meaningless. But the looks on some villagers’ faces said otherwise—a change was brewing, and the trust in what the administration had told us was beginning to crumble. Another important event this month was a meeting with a small but determined group of supporters who, like me, had had enough of the injustice. We met late at night, in the back of a barn, to plan how we could better document the ongoing abuses and forward this information to the proper authorities. Among those who came to this meeting were people who had recently faced problems, as their families had been excluded from support programs. They told us about the difficulties they had in obtaining building permits and how their applications were always rejected, while others, considered “loyal,” were helped without any problems. Their stories made us even more determined to keep going. In mid-March, I filed an official complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office in Constanța, which addressed not only the missing communal funds but also the intimidation and deliberate exclusion of community members considered critical of the administration. I was aware of the risks this step entailed, but the time for silence was over. This complaint was the first step in setting the legal wheels in motion and increasing the pressure on Maria Mitu. I knew it might take months or even years to achieve anything, but it was important to draw the authorities’ attention to the systematic mismanagement and abuse of power. Towards the end of March, something happened that gave me a new glimmer of hope: a few young people from the village, who had previously stood aside, approached me. They said they had seen what we were trying to achieve and wanted to help. We sat down together and developed a plan to improve communication in the village—we wanted more people to understand what was really going on and to have the opportunity to raise their voices. Thus, the idea of an “info campaign” was born, where we distributed flyers and informed neighbors in small groups. It wasn’t much, but it was a start to breaking the silence. March 2019 was challenging in many ways—increased repression, attempts to isolate me, and increasingly open threats. But at the same time, there were the first signs of change. People like my supporters and the young people in the community showed me that there was still hope and that the fight for justice was not in vain. My hope was that these small steps would lead to a bigger change—that one day we would live in a Rasova free of corruption and nepotism.