Lyubov Vasilyevna was born in the village of Poltavka, located in the Jayil district of the Chui region. She grew up as an ordinary girl, spending time with friends in gardens. However, in the seventh grade, her life changed when she entered the famous camp "Artek." She was chosen as an active student. At the camp, she saw the Black Sea for the first time and met kids from various corners of the country, including Yerevan and Voronezh. She was particularly impressed by her peers from Yerevan — they were educated and spoke foreign languages. This experience opened new horizons for her, teaching her to dance, speak confidently, and defend her point of view. Upon returning home, her class teacher barely recognized her. "Artek didn't change me; I just realized that the world is much broader," she notes.
After graduating from school, she enrolled in the philology department. However, her life soon took a sharp turn — her father passed away, and her mother fell ill. There were three children in the family, and being the eldest, she left her studies. The director of Poltavka school offered her a job as a pioneer leader: "We will help you," he said.
In addition to her main job, she substituted for teachers and studied teaching methods. "Poltavka school was well-known in the area — we held tourist gatherings and artistic performances, and we had a strong teaching staff. Here, I developed my leadership qualities," she recalls.
Her activity did not go unnoticed, and soon she received an offer to work in the department of agitation and propaganda, and later headed the general department of the district party committee. In 1986, she was invited to the editorial office of "Trudovaya Slava," where she began working on radio broadcasting.
“Every home had wired radio. We released the program 'Kara-Balta Speaks' three times a week, and it was very popular. I worked as both a correspondent and a presenter, telling stories about the lives of ordinary people. Against this backdrop, the events of the collapse of the Soviet Union unfolded, when panic and uncertainty reigned. District leaders appeared live, calling for calm. One woman later told me that after our broadcast, she felt relieved,” Kolyadyuk shares her memories.
Five years on the radio became a time of active communication with the townspeople for her. In 1991, after the radio station closed, she became the director of school No. 2 in Kara-Balta — a position she held for 17 years.
She notes that she would not have left her job if it weren't for her desire to care for her grandchildren: "The children grew up with me at work, and I wanted to raise my grandchildren myself."
Additionally, she served as a deputy at the district and city levels. One of her speeches became fateful for Kara-Balta. During the president's visit to the city at the "Manas" stadium, she was tasked with delivering an official speech. "This was a very important assignment from the akimat. I received a prepared text that I was not allowed to change. But the former head of the city, Oomat Kazakbayev, approached me with a request to voice a problem — the lack of a budget. It was a difficult decision: to follow instructions or to speak the truth about the city's problems," she recalls.
After long deliberation, she decided that remaining silent about the problems was not an option. At the end of her speech, she added: "Today, people who create our city have gathered at the stadium, but we have no funds for its improvement. We ask for the city to have its own budget."
Applause erupted throughout the stadium — it was a bold step, and she took it. After this speech, either by coincidence or by plan, Lyubov Kolyadyuk retired, but the city was still allocated a budget.
Gallery: Lyubov Kolyadyuk.
