Lyubov Vasilievna Kolyadyuk was born in the village of Poltavka in the Jayil district of the Chui region. In her childhood, she was an ordinary village girl – running around the gardens with the boys, being mischievous. But in the seventh grade, an event occurred that turned her inner world upside down. She went to "Artek" - the legendary All-Union camp. She was chosen as an active student from her village. There, she saw the Black Sea for the first time and met peers from Yerevan, Voronezh, Siberia, and Belgorod. She was particularly impressed by the kids from Yerevan – knowledgeable and speaking foreign languages. Here she saw another life – a life of knowledge, broad horizons, and responsibility. In "Artek," she learned to dance, speak confidently, defend her opinion, and not be afraid of words. When she returned home, her class teacher did not recognize her. "Artek did not change me; I just realized that the world is wider than I thought," she says.
After school, she enrolled in the philology faculty. During this period, her father passed away, her mother fell ill, and there were three children in the family – she was the eldest. She had to leave her studies. The director of Poltava school offered her a job as a pioneer leader. "We will help you," he said.
At the same time, she substituted for teachers and mastered teaching methods. "Poltava school was 'booming' throughout the district – tourist gatherings, artistic amateur performances, a strong teaching staff. This is where my leadership character was formed," recalls Lyubov Vasilievna.
The lively young pioneer leader quickly caught the attention of party officials, who offered her a job in the propaganda and agitation department, managing the general department of the district party committee. Documents marked "secret," strict order, responsibility. In 1986, she was invited to work in the editorial office of "Labor Glory" at the district party committee.
"There was radio broadcasting at the editorial office. At that time, every house had wired radio. Three times a week, the program 'Kara-Balta Speaks' aired. It lasted 15 minutes and was incredibly popular among the residents. I was both a correspondent and a host there. I talked about shepherds, livestock breeders, and ordinary people. I worked live on air. It was during this period that the Soviet Union began to disintegrate. Panic, anxiety, uncertainty. The leaders of the district – Mukhamed Turgunovich Ibragimov and Zhalgap Kazakbaev – spoke live, urging people to remain calm and continue working. One woman later told me: we sat and listened to the radio, and after the broadcast, we felt calm inside," Kolyadyuk recounts.
Five years of working on the radio became a time of lively communication with the city for her. People recognized her by her voice even on the bus. In 1991, after the radio was closed, she was offered a job at a school – she served as the director of school No. 2 in Kara-Balta for 17 years.
She says she would not have left if it weren't for the desire to take care of her grandchildren: "The children grew up with me at work. But I wanted to raise my grandchildren myself."
At the same time, she was a deputy at both the district and city levels. One speech by Lyubov Kolyadyuk became truly fateful for Kara-Balta. During the president's visit to the city, the meeting took place at the "Manas" sports complex stadium. She was asked to give an official speech on behalf of the district. "This was a very important assignment from the akimat. I was given a speech in which every word was checked and approved; I couldn't deviate from the written text. At that moment, the former head of the city, Oomat Kazakbaev, approached me as a deputy of the Kara-Balta city kenesh. He asked me to voice the city's problem – the lack of a budget. This was such a difficult decision: to stick to the akimat's speech or to voice the city's problem. If I asked for the city, it would mean showing that things were not so good for us – the consequences could be serious," Kolyadyuk recalls that tense moment.
She hesitated for a long time. On one hand, there was the akimat's assignment; on the other, there was responsibility to the citizens. And she made the decision – she would not remain silent about the problems. After the official text, she added: "Today, people who create our city have gathered in the stadium. But there are no funds for its improvement. We ask for a budget for the city."
The stands erupted in applause. It was a bold step – to speak the truth publicly. And she did. After this speech, whether by coincidence or planned, Lyubov Kolyadyuk retired, but the city was allocated a budget nonetheless.
