Age: 29
Education: Lviv Music College, Drohobych Ivan Franko State Pedagogical University
Profession: Violinist, music teacher
Did you know? Drahan produces handmade dolls and sells them in Lviv. But she prefers to live in a small town
While most young Ukrainians choose to leave rural areas for the big cities, Oksana Drahan chose to stay in the small town where she was born. She succeeded and, along the way, contributed to the development of her community.
Trained as a violinist and music teacher, Drahan now heads a music school in Hnizdychiv, a town of 4,000 residents in Lviv Oblast, located 540 kilometers west of Kyiv.
She studied as a violinist in Lviv, the provincial capital, and considered staying there. But her husband, who is also from Hnizdychiv, persuaded her to return home.
Drahan started to give private violin lessons and discovered there was big demand among the local children. “There were so many children willing to learn how to play the violin that I couldn’t teach them all by myself. So we had to find two more teachers,” she remembers.
They started giving private classes at a local community center, though not all the children could afford to pay for them. This problem was solved thanks to decentralization, a government policy aimed at giving more money and power to local communities.
The residents of Hnizdychiv and five nearby villages split from Zhydachiv, a former district center, and organized an amalgamated community in 2015. They used the money collected from local taxes and government grants to reconstruct roads and open a music school in an abandoned town council building. It was an impressive result for a community with a population of 6,300 people.
Before the music school, local children had to go to Zhydachiv for lessons, which is 15 kilometers away. It was hard for those whose parents didn’t have cars. “Now children come to our music school on foot or by bicycle,” Drahan said.
The Hnizdychiv music school has 13 teachers and 90 students. In addition to violin lessons, children can learn to play accordion, guitar, piano, drums and wind instruments, paying just $6-$8 per month.
Drahan only earns $200 per month. To supplement her income she started a small business producing handmade dolls, which she sells in her shop in Lviv. “I have always dreamed to do some business and wanted it to be something creative and involving producing goods, not just selling them,” Drahan said.
Each of the five villages in the Hnizdychiv community has its cultural center supervised by a main center. The system works well and serves as an example for others.
To develop their rural community, residents of Hnizdychiv apply for government and private grants. Drahan, who organized a non-governmental organization called Art Development of Hnizdychiv Community, says local activists are the reason for the success.
“This all happened thanks to people. Without people’s efforts there would be nothing here,” she said.
This year, Hnizdychiv music school raised $3,600 to buy electric guitars and violins as well as loudspeakers and microphones. Half of it was funded by the Lviv Oblast Сouncil and the rest was raised. Community members managed to collect about $800.
The new music equipment will be used for concerts. While the teachers and students dream of performing at a music festival in Poland, for now they lack the expenses for travel, food and lodging, which cost up to $220 per person, more than many families can afford.
But during the winter holidays they hope to collect money by singing Christmas carols. “We want to spend this money for travel to the festival in spring,” Drahan said.
