Something strange happens in a small village in Poland.
Local women sound the alarm.
The mayor wants to reward someone who delivers what's been missing.
Experts try to solve the inexplicable mystery that'd gripped the place...
Relax, nothing criminal going on there.
Just a little demographic puzzle, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
It all began a while ago with a regional contest for little firefighters.
Many peewee teams competed, but one of them stood out.
Not only were those kids good at their jobs, but they were also... only girls.
Not exactly shocking?
Just wait for it.
Miejsce Odrzanskie is an old, cozy village in the south of Poland.
A little over 300 people live there now.
Many of them have daughters, sometimes even two per family.
Just like in the rest of the world, you’d say, except for one thing.
Not a single boy has been born there in nearly a decade.
At least there’s no issue with baby girls.
Twelve of them came into the world in 9 years.
Impressive for such a small settlement, right?
And they sure do rule in their village.
Like I said, they’re especially interested in firefighting.
Since 2013, the girls have been learning to help their neighbors with this difficult task.
In fact, the children were the ones who insisted on the creation of a youth fire brigade.
Youth being a broad term, because its youngest member is just 2 years old!
During practice, they have fire drills just like their fellow grownups.
They put out the flames – not real ones of course – and they assist “the injured”.
And they never forget to put on their uniform first.
When there’s a competition coming up, they train even harder than usual, at least every
other day after school.
And not for nothing.
The girls’ team’s been bringing medals from the main national contests for the past
6 years.
Seems like the women in Miejsce Odrzanskie (m’yeas-ceh Oj-dran-skyeh) have mastered
many spheres which have been considered a man’s job for a long time.
They drive tractors to harvest corn and wheat.
They run the affairs, as the head of the village is Krystyna Zydziak.
And don’t forget the fire department.
Right now it has 24 women and only 8 men.
But so what, you might ask.
What’s wrong with the village having more women than men, if everyone’s happy?
Well, the thing is that, like a bunch of other Polish villages and tiny towns, it’s steadily
losing its population.
There are nearly 900 inhabitants less now than half a century ago.
Many people moved to big cities.
Not to mention those who emigrated to other European countries.
Each family that still lives in the village today has at least one relative residing abroad.
And even so, Miejsce Odrzanskie remains chiefly an agricultural community.
A big part of its territory is covered by crop fields and farms that take a lot of time
and energy to manage.
Taking into account the steadily shrinking and aging population, it’s not hard to understand
why the locals are concerned, right?
The shortage of boys suddenly seems to be just the icing on the cake.
But not all the members of the community are upset about this whole situation.
Little girls themselves seem to actually like it.
And it certainly doesn’t stop them from pursuing their hobbies or enjoying themselves.
To give you an idea, 10-year-old Malwina Kicler said that without noisy boys, they can finally
have some “peace and quiet.
You can always meet them somewhere else.”
What can I say, kids will be kids.
Some people claim that they wanted to have a son in their families, but now they believe
that it naturally can’t happen in this village.
Tomasz Golasz, head of the junior fire brigade, and dad of two daughters himself, says that
women just don’t “give birth to boys here.”
But surely there must be something the future parents can do to increase their chances of
having a boy.
Well, after the case went viral, doctors from all over Poland shared their advice.
They recommended that women trying to conceive eat more food rich in calcium.
And if that doesn’t help, then there’s an old tip from the Polish highlanders.
The couple just needs to keep an ax under their bed, or at least so they say.
Not sure that really works, but I guess it’s worth a shot.
You may wonder what would happen when a baby-boy that everyone’s hoped for for so long finally
comes?
Rajmund Frischko, the mayor of the municipality to which the village belongs, revealed that
there’s been so much pressure concerning this matter, that for a while, he seriously
thought about naming a street after the lucky newborn.
Probably a little over the top, don’t you think?
Anyway, he promised that the kid’s parents will receive a present, and maybe they’ll
even plant a tree in his honor.
In any case, this boy would be so welcome, he’ll definitely get special treatment.
He’d sure be an exceptional member on the firefighting team.
The interesting thing is that the residents who’ve lived in the village for a long time
aren't so surprised about the situation.
They say that while girls were born there regularly, giving birth to a boy was pretty
rare, even decades ago.
What could cause this extraordinary anomaly?
Maybe the place has a unique microclimate?
Is there some genetic link that all mothers in this area share?
Or maybe it was something more mysterious?
Unfortunately, there’s no way to answer that now, but don’t give up yet.
Professor Rafał Płoski, from the Medical University of Warsaw, had already explained
that to solve this puzzle, experts need not only analyze the historical data, but also
look into the couples who only have girls.
If there are any connections between them, it could prove useful for the study.
Another important factor is the environment.
To complete the picture, they’ll need to talk to both children and parents living in
the village.
That seems like a lot of work, but many scientists have expressed their desire to get to the
truth.
I’m sure they’re already conducting interviews with the villagers and going through statistics.
And as far as other parts of the country are concerned, surprisingly, newborns are more
likely to be boys.
In other words, it’s about 1.06 boys for every girl being born in Poland.
In fact, this is the case for almost every corner of the Earth.
Of course, there are exceptions.
For instance, in some Asian regions like in India or China, the gap is even bigger because
sons there are somehow more desired than daughters.
But in most countries, approximately 105 male children for every 100 female ones come into
the world, and that’s how demographics have worked for several centuries.
From this point of view, Miejsce Odrzanskie is a rare phenomenon.
All the more interesting to know its real reason.
Or maybe it’s just a curious coincidence?
And what do you think?
Share your thoughts down in the comments.
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