15 steps to Ukrainian unity: “Change Drivers” project winner

The site was created by two sisters who managed a volunteer team for seven months. And recently, their initiative, "15 steps to Ukrainian unity" won in "Change Drivers"; the girls received 80 thousand hryvnias for developing their project.

In this text, we will tell about how the idea of the site was born by a 15-year-old schoolgirl from Dnipro, who was supported by her older sister with all her might. About the team's hard work for seven months and the project's further development into something more than just a website.

""Sometimes you need someone to believe in you." A story of two sisters and one idea

15-year-old Masha from Dnipro was interested in history all her life and participated in professional Olympiads. The girl's hobby was to understand the facts of the past.

"After February 24, my family and I moved to Chernivtsi. When we found ourselves in a safe environment, we wanted to do something to help others," says Masha Arshynnikova.

In March, she shared her observations with her older sister: there is no single project in Ukraine that would collect the entire history of the state — not distorted, written from the point of view of the Ukrainians themselves. At that time, Anna Arshynnikova was just getting used to the role of a mother. At the beginning of February, she and her husband had a baby, but after the start of the full-scale invasion, the young father immediately went to defend the future of his child. He headed one of the "Azov" battalions.

"Guys on the front line protect us around the clock, and we decided that we can help on the information front, so to speak, secure our future victory with intellectual training. Especially since Masha really found a problem — the lack of a historical base without distortions. That is, presented by various independent specialists, a single version of all events, without prejudices and own subjective opinions," Anna says.

The girl worked in the public sector for six years, so she understood how to implement projects. "I just shared the idea…" her younger sister says. To which the older woman replies: "Sometimes you need someone to believe in you. Especially since now, our country is one big family."

In March, the girls thought about what this project should be about and how to organize all the work. And since April, they started looking for team members — volunteers ready to devote time and energy to creating the site.

"I wanted to make a stylish, beautiful and information-filled website": about work on the project

Several historians and writers agreed to work on the project. Together with the girls, they began to plan the project's content, although, at that time, the team did not have people who would make the site itself. Historians collected factual information, and writers processed it. After some time, Masha and Anna did find an IT team ready to implement the idea technically.

"We worked a lot on the visual presentation. We wanted the site to be professional. We approached the matter on a large scale: we took five of the most beautiful sites in the world, looked at how they presented everything, and looked for inspiration. We wanted to make a stylish, beautiful, and information-filled website," Anna shares.

The site was redone twice, and once they changed the team that made the site because the sisters did not like the result. We thought long and hard about the name. After all the facts were divided into historical stages, it was understood that "15 steps to Ukrainian unity" is an ideal ratio: all the information is provided, but not too much, so the reader does not get tired.

The audience of the project was to be not only Ukrainians who want to improve their knowledge of their own history. Anna explains:

"We see the project as an initiative that foreigners will turn to in order to familiarize themselves with the history of strong Ukraine."

For users from other countries, there is already a version of the site in Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Arabic.

"The choice of languages was not a shot in the dark. We considered the audience that will read the site. It is necessary first to cover European countries — EU languages. We are currently preparing a French version, and there will be more in the future. Arabic was chosen because, for example, Iran is an accomplice of russia's aggression. Maybe people in this country are being brainwashed. But there are conscious citizens there who want to understand everything," Anna Arshynnikova says.

The sisters say they are still working on creating an inclusive version of the site to reach even more people.

"Change Drivers" and future plans

Currently, the project "15 steps to Ukrainian unity" is made by volunteers who believe in the idea. Team members worked on the site because they saw value in it.

"We did not raise any funds for this. People worked for seven months for free. The history teachers, who receive little for their work, prepared materials for us at night. The IT team also worked on the site besides their main work," says Masha Arshinnikova.

Anna adds: "We hope to be able to thank the team members after we buy the domain and spread the word about our site as much as possible. These are the first steps that need funding, and in the future, we want to release historical facts, cooperate with international organizations and pay for people's work."

A grant of 80,000 hryvnias from "Change Drivers" is the project's first financial support. The team plans to use the funds to promote the site.

"In the spring, more people volunteered to work, but now everyone is thinking about tomorrow. And it is much more difficult to find someone to help with promotion, advertise or something else for free," Anna Arshynnikova says.

Spreading information about the site as much as possible is now the first goal that the girls have set for themselves. For its implementation, they are looking for specialists who can take on the project: PR specialists, SMM specialists, and historical ambassadors who have connections with foreign educational institutions and can promote the platform there. The girls also plan to prepare courses on the history of Ukraine.

"We want to update historical events and diversify the educational program. But for this, we need to encourage many researchers to create a constant flow of informative materials. We are also looking for partnership projects for joint products to reach a larger audience and develop the Ukrainian national brand together," Maria Arshynnikova shares.

The sisters did not officially present their project, "15 steps to Ukrainian unity"; for this, they want to organize a scientific conference. While preparing for it, they say: it was possible to create a site thanks to parental support.

"They motivated us as much as possible. We shared our achievements and plans. And the parents asked: "Did you go there? And here?" When we had some conflicts with Anya, mom and dad helped to reconcile," says Maria.

Also, the parents cared for their little grandson while Anna spent time on the project. She participated in video conferences in one room, and the grandparents played with the baby in the other.

"My baby is an incentive for Ukrainian children to know what really happened and is happening. If we do not devote time to this, they will study a distorted version of the history of Ukraine," Anna adds.