Do you know where Czerna is located? In a beautiful borderland area, on the western outskirts of the former Bolesławiec County. The village has 1,010 residents, 1,700 hectares of cultivated land and approximately 1,600 hectares of grassland. It takes pride in its newly built eight-grade primary school, its church following a major renovation, and its newly built Cultural Centre and OSP fire station. The village is home to the Gminna Spółdzielnia’s bulk-goods warehouses in Nowogrodziec and a new bakery, which runs its own bread shop. The village has a water-supply network and three grocery shops, which also serve customers from outside the village. Industrial plants separate it from other villages. To the east, one can see the largest plant in the municipality, “Surmin”, with which the village council maintains cooperative relations. To the south is a clinker plant producing the highest-grade bricks and a full range of products useful in construction. The Bolesławieckie Zakłady Materiałów Ogniotrwałych are located west of the village (producing construction and refractory materials for the Polish steel industry). Nearby, in Przyborsk, acid-resistant tiles are manufactured, among other products (the only producer in the country). To the north, there is the “Surmin” clay mine, and to the south, a kaolin mine. A genuine raw-material and industrial basin.There is therefore nothing surprising about people here having two occupations: farmer and factory worker. An asphalt provincial road to the border with the Federal Republic of Germany runs through the village for approximately 5 km and urgently needs repairs. The access roads to the cultivated fields are also in poor condition, but the residents of Czerna want to solve this problem themselves. A plan for modernization and repair work through 1999 has already been submitted to the Municipal and City Office in Nowogrodziec. Fifty new houses have already been built in the village district, and 15 more owners already have permits or are building new structures. This year’s plan provides for the construction of a second bus bay and stop on Road No. 4 (in the western direction), as well as lighting for the entire main thoroughfare running through the village. The international roads authority in Wrocław will help with this, as well as with laying a pavement for pedestrians along this route through the village. Many matters depend on the activity of the village council and the village head, Władysław MIERZWA. Now it is time for “telephone installation”, meaning connecting the village with the outside world. It is difficult to overcome monopolistic barriers, as the village head states. There are already 160 applications awaiting decisions to connect telephones to homes, while in practice only the telephone in the village head’s building is available around the clock (!). And how can an ambulance or fire brigade be called in an emergency? Young people are taking the lead in Czerna: they are trying to register their own Youth Association and sports section, and they have wonderful ideas for developing cultural life. Whether they will manage to implement them remains to be seen. In preparing the press information, the author received kind assistance from the village head of Czerna, Mr Władysław MIERZWA.