Vinnytsia young teachers and students are developing youth movement to preserve their native village

What is the problem?

Ukrainian villages are declining, and even more so, they often disappear entirely from the maps. Before the war, the biggest problem in the Ukrainian countryside was unemployment, and Russia's invasion only exacerbated it. Due to the lack of jobs, young people leave their native towns and villages to seek employment.

"After graduating, children need somewhere to work — 90-95% of young people simply do not return to their village because there is simply no opportunity to find a decent job there, and the infrastructure is low," says Stanislav Hrynenchuk, co-founder of the youth organization Influence of Unity in Vinnytsia region.

What is the solution?

To rectify this situation, to create a comfortable community for young people, and to implement youth projects in Honkivtsi, Influence of Unity was founded by young teachers Stanislav Hrynenchuk and Kateryna Kyryk. The organization primarily united community schoolchildren.

There are 13 sparsely populated villages in the Yaryshiv territorial community. According to the organization's founders, the community is very young and, therefore, has not yet developed its full potential. They view the change in uniting the community, starting new useful projects together, going to the international level with them, conducting active political, cultural, and volunteer activities, and, most importantly, creating new jobs in the native village.

How does it work?

Stanislav Hrynenchuk and Kateryna Kyryk are young teachers at the Honkivtsi lyceum.

23-year-old Hrynenchuk is from Honkivtsi. After getting a degree in Pedagogy, he returned to his native village to work as a geography teacher. He says that creating a youth organization that would become a change driver in the village fulfills his life's dream: to help the community stand up and improve.

"For me, this story started with the love for my village. When I saw that it was starting to disappear, I really wanted to help, but at that time, I was still in school and did not know what to do," recalls the activist.

20-year-old Kyryk also has a degree in Pedagogy and after graduating, started working in Honkivtsi as an elementary school and computer science teacher and at the same time continued her studies at the university.

"I've been fascinated by activists since I was young. I dreamed of becoming one," the teacher says about herself. "I always wanted to help, be needed, and enjoy it. Fortunately, now, there are plenty of opportunities for this."

Stanislav Hrynenchuk and Kateryna Kyryk at the courses of the Partnership Project SpilnoFond.

One of these opportunities was the young teachers' trip to Vinnytsia to study within the framework of the SpilnoFond project. They learned how to use fundraising campaigns to implement their ideas and projects there. Inspired by the three-day course, the activists returned to their community and immediately decided to create a youth organization.

The name Influence of Unity perfectly shows the organization's goal, as the desired goals can be achieved only by uniting.

The age of the newly created organization's participants is unlimited, but its basis is the youth. The youngest legally registered participant is 14, but even second-graders help in the work.

Lyceum students in Honkivtsi create shopping bags.

Even before the full-scale invasion, the students proved they wanted and could change their community and, therefore, the country's future, says the school director, Vita Hryhoryshina.

In 2021, with the assistance of the British Council, students took courses in designing, cutting, and sewing eco-shoppers and backpacks and learned how to use sewing equipment. The children began to sew shoppers on the equipment purchased for the project. The shoppers then were sold through local stores. All this came in handy even after the full-scale invasion: thermal press, a printer, fabric, and sewing machines are now actively used by children and teachers in volunteer activities.

A year later, students and teachers and the MHP-Community Foundation equipped the school with a modern space with an interactive board for classes and meetings. In 2023, the school's team participated in the Youth in the Community project, implemented by the same foundation. Thanks to this initiative, a new sports complex was created near the lyceum, and a team of schoolchildren converted old sports facilities into bicycle parking lots.

The new project, which active young people want to implement in Honkivtsi, is called "Innovative biofarm. School entrepreneurship".

The organization plans to introduce the subject Social Entrepreneurship into the variable program of the school and build a modern, technological biofarm. That is, to create a special room on the school grounds where adults will grow decorative plants and trees, and schoolchildren will be able to conduct various practical lessons in biology. This project should provide jobs and funds to the youth organization to implement their next tasks.

Schoolchildren plan to grow microgreens at the Green Farm as well. 

The size of the farm will depend on the funds that can be collected. To begin with, schoolchildren plan to handle one season on their own resources to gain initial experience and start all processes from planting to sales. The plans are to create from two to five jobs and then to deal with expansion. According to Kyryk, there will be more jobs if everything goes well.

To implement its idea, Influence of Unity launched a fundraising campaign on the SpilnoFond platform — by the end of winter, they planned to collect ₴75,000. In the event of a successful fundraiser, SpilnoFond promised to provide the second half of the money for the project.

However, waiting for March to close the fundraiser was unnecessary. The activity of young teachers, teenagers, and children in the community became an impetus for the active participation of adults. In a small village, everyone responded to the call of young people.

In a month, the youth of Honkivtsi ignited the whole community, and on January 1, they had already collected the necessary part of the funds to implement their project.

"From the first day, we received support from the community. It felt like everyone wanted to change, and people just needed a push," Kyryk recalls. The organization became this impetus, and then everything began to move frantically. Someone started selling milk, someone chrysanthemums, someone left contributions, and someone donated money. The team recorded motivational speeches and showed them on social networks. The kids joined in and made hot dogs, popcorn, pizza, etc. every week. Some funds were sent from abroad, and local businesses also participated. "Such comprehensive support for the initiative gave us faith that we are doing everything right," says Kyryk.

Performance of the students at a charity festival.

Before the New Year, Influence of Unity gathered the community for a charity festival. The youth organized a concert, a charity fair, a lottery, and an open-air treat. Thus, the organization was able to raise another ₴25,000. All this allowed the youth not only to collect the necessary ₴75,000 but also to donate 10% of the collected amount to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Did they really succeed?

The team of Influence of Unity is in the process of discussing the project "Innovative biofarm. School entrepreneurship."

The whole community was excited about the Green Farm. Everyone wants to act, to make life in our village better, cheering for the result. At the lyceum, children are active when they are doing something — their eyes light up with happiness and satisfaction. 

"This project is something we have wanted to see for a long time. I like working on this project, especially with such a wonderful team," shares tenth-grader Kashchuk Snizhana. In the future, she also dreams of becoming a teacher and working in her native village. She joined the project in October and became the secretary of the constituent assembly. From the beginning of fundraising, Kashchuk helped with texts, wrote letters for sponsors, made presentations about the project, and cooperated with the volunteer sector.

In the spring, Influence of Unity will begin to implement the plan and start renovating the unfinished premises for an innovative biofarm. The project team will go to management administration courses, and then the school students will have a whole year to create a project.

Even more useful solutions!

Logo of the youth organization Influence of Unity.

The youth leaders of the Yaryshiv community shared their experience of how the youth of ordinary communities, such as theirs, can become the locomotive of real changes.

According to Kyryk, to stir up the community and revive the village, you must start briskly and seek as much publicity as possible about your activities. You need to connect to social networks, constantly report on your work, and talk to everyone as if you were a friend.

In Kyryk's opinion, it is necessary to be democrats, but with fangs. No one should be forced to help, and it should be made so that people want to do it themselves. And when you already have an audience and publicity, and you are doing a really necessary thing, then people will be attracted to you, and the government and businesses will support you.

"I want to appeal to the youth of small communities. When everyone says there are more opportunities in cities, don't listen! The real opportunities are in the villages and communities. If you are creative, all this is almost a blank canvas for you," adds Hrynenchuk.

In addition to implementing the main project, the organization's founders want to make Influence of Unity an exemplary youth organization and are ready to expand throughout Ukraine. Therefore, everyone who wants to do a project similar to the one implemented in Honkivtsi can count on the support of the team of the Honkivtsi Lyceum and contact the youth organization with any questions. They will be happy to share their own experience and developments.

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