These Peace Corps alums are helping Ukrainian artists make it on Etsy

In a country torn by civil war, being able to sell embroidered paintings, hand-made dolls and stuffed animals online might seem supercilious.
But for Ukrainian bead jewelry maker Nina Igorivna, Etsy has become an essential source of revenue.
The platform has also allowed Olena Nechyporuk, an embroidered bead jewelry maker, to give back to the school her daughter has been attending since fleeing the war.
In a moving Facebook post, she announced she would donate 10 percent of proceeds to pay for a new chalkboard, windows and library books. “I just want to help this school, this small, rural Ukrainian school,” she wrote.

//

Though Nechyporuk and Igorivna are talented at their craft, they also had to learn a few things to run a successful Etsy business.
To learn how to market, promote and distribute their products, they worked with Eastern Rinok, an organization that introduces Ukrainian artists to the “the intricacies of the platform,” said director Ashley Wichman. (Rinok means “market” in Ukrainian and Russian.)
Founded in December 2012 by former Peace Corps volunteers Stuart King and David Malenfant with his Ukrainian friend and now wife, Svetlana Maiurenko Malenfant, the organization supports 20 artists and has helped sell more than $40,000 in homemade goods.
In September 2014, Eastern Rinok joined Bridge to Ukraine, a nonprofit that backs “cultural exchanges” between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Wichman runs the program from D.C., where she also works as a program analyst for the General Services Administration.
A former Peace Corps member as well, Wichman was repatriated from Ukraine ahead of schedule in February 2014, because of the impending conflict.
But the organization was built to carry on without the direct involvement of Western volunteers.
“We train Ukrainian trainers that in turn teach the artists,” said Wichman. “It’s sustainable.”