I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
My focus is on creating interesting and exclusive content. Journalism, to me, is primarily about human stories, to which I always find the key, empathize with the people I write about, and love all my heroes. Journalism, to me, means telling people about what truly matters to them, informing and inspiring them. It is not just a job, but a way of life, just like for all those who dream, create, and are inspired by it.
So, if you are looking for stories that inspire and motivate, that instill faith and help find meaning while believing in goodness, read my stories on the Goodacity website.
I am a manager of cultural affairs and a project manager with over 14 years of experience at United Thinkers. I have participated in the organization of numerous successful social and charitable projects and have implemented informational campaigns and communication cases.
As a marketing manager, I have been involved in organizing marketing and sociological research, working with media and partners, developing advertising and marketing strategies, as well as planning and implementing advertising campaigns.
I believe in the power of goodness and I am happy that as part of the Goodacity project, I can contribute to its expansion. I believe in the power of words and in the fact that communication can help make the world a better place. I know how, where and when to speak in order to be heard. And when you are heard, you can change the world!
Ksenia and Dmytro Pityzyny: Together in Creativity, Volunteering, and Life!
Catching the creative duo from Chernihiv, Ksenia and Dmytro Pityzyny, for an interview is no small feat.
“This morning, we jumped in the car and have been on the go all day — picking up gifts for the military, and coordinating with volunteers to get them to the East. Plus, our son came home on leave from the military, so we wanted to spend quality time together,” shares Mrs. Oksana. Their son is on the frontline, while they bring victory closer with their creativity! The creative volunteering of the Pityzyny couple is well-known not only in Chernihiv, Ukraine, but across the entire country — there’s hardly a region that hasn’t seen their wooden crafts — vases, boxes, and wood blanks that later become painted, carved, or decoupage masterpieces!
And the incredible, lively, soulful, and warm wooden masterpieces by Mr. Dmytro are often seen at charity auctions and raffles to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“If you’re not serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then you should serve here,” the man often repeats. “Those not in the Armed Forces are for the Armed Forces!”
The Entire Family: A Creative Ensemble!
Counting the works that have come from the skilled hands of the craftsman is an impossible task, with numbers running not just into the hundreds but into the thousands…
“We’ve been working with wood for over 15 years,” Mrs. Oksana shares. “Dmytro started on his own, I was working in a kindergarten, but eventually, I joined the team. Now, I can’t imagine life without it!”
“Our whole family is like that — creative,” laughs Mr. Dmytro. “Our eldest son — who is now in the Armed Forces — also worked with us. He and his wife (this year in April, our son came home on leave from the front and got married) are both engineers in wood processing. Now, our daughter-in-law also creates with wood, and our younger son is joining the creative family ensemble. My dad is also a woodturner, over 70 years old, but still working—because that’s what he lives for… In such an atmosphere, it’s impossible not to catch the bug and fall in love with this creative work…”
“Our son, coming back from the front, said how much he missed creating,” says Mrs. Oksana. “If he used to grumble sometimes that he was tired of the work, now, when he comes home on leave, he asks Dmytro — let’s go to the workshop, just to breathe this air… But work will come later, now the most important job is to defend the country! And Dmytro and I help however we can — with creativity, donations, with every day…
They say that artists see reality a bit differently, and in general, each of them is a separate world… Dmytro is exactly like that. Where someone else might see a wooden log — just a log, nothing special — he sees something in it and manages to release it, leaving you in wonder.
He starts something with a piece of wood, and then sees, maybe there’s a hollow inside, or a bit has been gnawed away, or something else… Dmytro makes very interesting items from such unusual, “imperfect” pieces of wood — emotional, full of life, or however else you might describe them. Be it a vase with cavities inside, or a slightly gnawed mushroom… It looks so touching and tender. I think, such creations are about all of us now, about the whole of Ukraine — wounded, but no less beautiful!”
How does the craftsman release the voice of the wood, making it respond to him? “I don’t have a special recipe for creativity,” admits Dmytro Pityzin. “I just create as my heart dictates. I love working with wood — it’s alive, warm, has depth, a special color palette. Yes, it’s hard work, delicate and intricate, but also very inspiring. My works reflect my worldview and perception.
Every week I set aside an hour or two to work not on commission, but to create for the soul. I take some interesting wood and then ‘playfully misbehave’ with it: these creations are then either given away or raffled for donations to the Armed Forces. Sometimes, we gather several interesting items or sets and organize charity raffles, with all proceeds going to charity — to help the military or people in need.”
Creative Volunteers: Art in Service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
“In Ukraine, there probably isn’t a single person left untouched by the war. Naturally, the war has inevitably impacted creativity… With the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion, our creative work has almost entirely shifted towards volunteering,” notes Mrs. Oksana. “Now, when we create something interesting, the first thought is — oh, this can help buy something necessary for the guys. And it’s not just us; our fellow artisan friends tell us they’ve developed the same ‘syndrome,'” she laughs.
The stories of the artisans we collaborate with are incredibly moving and inspiring. There’s a craftswoman from Kharkiv, Ukraine, who lost everything in the first week of the full-scale Russian invasion. Her workshop burned down, all her works, absolutely everything, was gone. But she didn’t give up or throw in the towel — she gets blanks from us and starts over from scratch. Or take the story of another craftswoman from Yuzhne, Ukraine: her husband is fighting, her parents’ house was destroyed by a Russian shell, and she moved to Dnipro with her daughter, continuing to create and support the army. People of incredible strength — they create and do their utmost to help and donate. And so do we…”
“Our product line has also changed — items with patriotic themes have become more popular, more in demand,” says Mr. Dmytro. “Ukrainians have learned to value their own — their language, their culture, their art… After the siege of Chernihiv, when my wife and I entered our workshop for the first time in months, we sat down and thought — what now?
The country is in the midst of a full-scale war, we didn’t know if anyone would need our boxes and all our creations… But we decided to try — we wrote on social networks that we were back to work, posted some photos of our work — and people flooded us with questions, encouragements, orders. And when you realize that you and what you do are needed by people — it’s incredibly uplifting. You work — and you help people, and find inspiration and solace for yourself…”
“Many of our products — budget blanks — are purchased by charitable organizations for workshops with children: children from territories that were occupied, displaced children, everyone who needs psychological ‘relief.’ Flags and tridents are taken by volunteers — to later decorate or paint and give them to the military. We try to give people some of our products — to cheer them up, to support them.
Overall, everything we do to help others — we do not just for the sake of doing it, but because we want to,” Mrs. Oksana says about their volunteer work. “For me, it’s not even volunteering, it’s like a breath of fresh air. You help a person in need, you take a homeless kitten from the street, you load a van for the guys at the front line, and you feel — you’re breathing! It’s like doing a thorough cleaning at home — yes, it’s hard, you get tired, but how much easier it feels to breathe afterwards! Volunteering is, essentially, a ‘thorough cleaning’ of the soul. It allows you to put things in order within yourself. And it also sets a good example for others, and seeing you, maybe someone else will also want to do it. That’s how we live…”
