Job + House = Sorted!

I’ve properly starting to settle in – I’ve now moved into my new house and have had my first week in my work placement. It’s been a pretty tiring week, but fun at the same time.

The House – Last Friday I made the big move from the temporary accommodation of the Chinngis Guest House to my new appartment. I’m still pretty central, just a 20 minute walk from the parliament square. I’m sharing the flat with two other VSO volunteers, Jude and Jon. They’re both from Canada, and are both friendly! The accommodation is very nice – we’ve got comfortable rooms and a largish living room. We’ve even got a washing machine! The only annoyance is that my appartment is on the very top of the tower block, on the ninth floor. Very handily there is a lift, but it only works from 7am until 10:30pm. Thus, every time I stay out late I’ll have a nice but of exercise waiting for me on my return! I’ll be living in this place for the rest of my stay in Mongolia.

The Job – That’s right, I’ve now left the cocoon of VSO’s induction training and have entered the world of work! Tie and shirt in hand, I walked into my office for the first day in the job… Just in case you don’t know, I’ll be spending the next 11 months working for the Mongolian National Volunteer Network. The network is a collection of organisations, all of which involve Mongolian volunteers in their activities. While much is still to be finalised, my role will be twofold: to help the network work more effectively, and meet the needs of the different member organisations as they arise. There are 21 groups that have taken up membership with the network. I’ve already met 3 of them this week (the Mongolian Youth Federation, the Mongolian Red Cross and the Mongolian Scouts) and over the coming weeks I’ll be visiting the rest of the network members.

Visit to Darkhan – on Tuesday I made the trip up to Mongolia’s second city, Darkhan. This trip was in aid of another aspect of my work – to support volunteering schemes that my fellow VSO volunteers set up. Amar (my line-manager) thought that it would be a good idea to view two such volunteer projects first-hand. Thus I headed up to Darkhan to see the work of two volunteers, Glen and Alain, who are really doing fantastic things. Glen has successfully created a scheme in which local volunteers deliver health education to local communities, thus taking pressure off the already overstretched doctors. Alain, on the other hand, has managed to encourage local English teachers to give free lessons to underprivileged children in isolated areas. Not only was it great to see these projects, but it was also lovely to visit Darkhan – a real contrast to Ulaanbaatar. For a start, the city was clean and quiet. Drivers even stopped at zebra crossings! As I’m not really used to the big city lifestyle I think I might be popping into Darkhan every now and again…