Adventures in the Gobi

I’ll get straight to the main highlight of the week – my three-day trip to the Gobi Desert! I was lucky enough to be taken to the Dornogobi (Eastern Gobi) region. One of the members of the network that I work for, the Mongolian Youth Federation, was doing a trip to see some of their countryside-based volunteers. They very kindly invited me along for the ride, so I couldn’t refuse…

Sleeper-train from Ulaanbaatar to Sainsand – Dornogobi is a good 1000 km from Ulaanbaatar, so we took an over-night train. Whilst it was a 10-hour journey, the time flew. My collegues and I were swapping songs (something Mongolians seem to love to do), and I had the chance to give my Mongolian a good work-out. Some time later we unfolded the beds in our train compartment, and went to sleep for a while. It was a lovely sleep, but oh too short – we arrived at our stop at 4am. However, I can’t complain too much, as the head of the Youth Federation kindly booked us into a local hotel, which we stopped off in for a few hours. After a hearty breakfast we began our trip to Dzunbayan, a small town in which some of the Mongolian Youth Federation’s volunteers are based. It was a 70-minute trek across the Gobi Desert. Luckily we were travelling in a sturdy Russian jeep, which had a lot of padding inside – necessary for all the bumps we went over. We got to our destination in one-piece, and what a place it was! I’d never seen anything like it. Dzubayan is now a bit of a ghost town, as many of the building are either left unoccupied or are falling to bits. The town used to be a big army base, but since the end of communism the army’s priorities changed and so the majority of the soldiers (and the jobs they brought with them) went away. Thus, in the space of a year the town’s population went from 12,000 to 2,000. This kind of situation is relatively common in Mongolia – it’s one of the few places in the world in which people are moving from towns into the countryside.

Visiting school / doing training – after settling into our youth hostel (which, bytheway, was absolutely freezing!), we made our way to the local school. It is here that the volunteers we came to see work. These volunteers are part of a programme which encourages well-trained teachers to go out to the countryside to support regional communities. They are needed as most of the well-educated people leave the regions to go to Ulaanbaatar, where real money can be made. It was a real pleasure to meet them, and to see the work that they do. They were really friendly, warm and committed people. After having a tour round the different classes (and the very well-behaved students!), I was privileged enough to run a training session for them. We looked at how to run group meetings effectively – as they are so far away from the Youth Federation’s headquarters, it seemed a good idea to help them to become more self-autonomous, and to give them more tools to decide/do things by themselves. It was well received, but despite my warnings the odd mobile phone still went off in the meeting (for some bizarre reason, it’s perfectly acceptable for people to interrupt any meeting, no matter how formal, to answer their mobile phone!). The day was rounded off with some celebrations organised by the school. The students sang songs, and did dances. Then the evening progressed into a disco (I would have never have guessed that Dr Dre would have such a following in the Gobi Desert!). It was so kind of the school to organise this – all for four people coming to visit…

Trip to army base – whilst I mentioned above that the majority of the army left Dzunbayan, there is still a small army base that remains. The town’s location, not far from the Chinese border, makes it still of some strategic importance (I think it’s fair to say that the Mongolians do not trust the Chinese, and so worry that a future invasion may occur. They think the only thing protecting them from the Chinese is that Russia, Mongolia’s neighbour to the North, would not take kindly to further Chinese expansion). Anyway, I digress. We got taken round the army base, and got to see the regiment’s museum. It was fascinating to see all the communist flags, and to see photos of meetings between Mongolian officers and those of other communist nations. However, perhaps most surprising was what the regiment is doing today. In recent years it has sent soldiers to serve in Iraq, supporting the Polish troops in the region. Back in the UK (correct me if I’m wrong) we never heard anything about the contribution that smaller countries are making to support the “War on Terror”.

Whilst all these activities were fun, the main highlight was just meeting the people. Their kindness really struck me, everywhere we went we were treated to the best food they had (even though most of the people were quite poor). I made many new friends, despite my lack of Mongolian language skills (although I’m sure the large amounts of vodka that were going round helped things run that little bit more smoothly). It was also interesting to see the life the people live – they are a small community that is surrounded by desert and a long way from the nearest town. Despite this/because of this, they seemed very happy. I’ve been invited to go back to Dzunbayan sometime next year, an invite I’d like to take up at some stage…

P.S. The locals were desperately looking for an English-language teacher (not necessarily with relevant qualifications!) to join their English language department, so if anyone’s interested get back to me. It would be an amazing experience – the chance to live in the Gobi for a few months doesn’t come every day - and you’d really help these very nice people out!

What a busy week!

All continues to go well in Mongolia. I'm glad that I've settled in well. Must be something to do with the fact that I'm being kept busy - I don't have much time to mooch around and get depressed, and as I've also got things to do it's easier to convince myself that I'm doing something useful. This week was particularly packed. My week of work and play included:

VSO conferences - This week has been full of VSO conferences. All the different VSO volunteers came to Ulaanbaatar (about 60% are based elsewhere), and were joined by the VSO office staff and the many representatives of the partner organisations that VSO works with. The future direction of VSO and the challenges faced by volunteers and their employers were both discussed. Also, all the different programme areas were reviewed (VSO Mongolia works in four main programme areas - health, education, secure livelihoods and national volunteering - my area!). I was privileged enough to be the volunteer representative for the national volunteering programme area review. I got to see both the planning and presentation stages of this review, and so got a unique inside view of how VSO formulates its future programme strategy, and how it presents this information to its partners and volunteers.

Trip to Hustai Park - On Saturday I made the very bumpy trip to Hustai Park, a national park about 100 kilometres from Ulaanbaatar. It was a great day! We left in a very old Russian jeep, which whilst not being very comfortable, was just the thing for the dirt tracks outside the capital city (getting around Mongolia is a long process, as tarmac only seems to exist in Ulaanbaatar). After 3 hours we arrived at our destination, and began our search for wildlife. Our primary aim was to spot some Przewalski horses, the only wild horses left in the world (the only horses not to have been bred by man for man made purposes - as a result they have 26 chromosomes, as opposed to the standard 24). After a short drive through the park we spotted something in the distance... What luck, a group of 10 horses! They were very beautiful.

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After spending an hour with the horses, we made our way through the outskirts of the park. Whilst I thought the main highlight of the trip had already come, I was happily mistaken. We can across a group of herders who were taking their livestock to the abattoirs in Ulaanbaatar. Four people were transporting over 1000 yaks and 500 sheep - what a sight! Not only that, but they had two camels with them, to help with the transportation of their belongings. My first chance to be up-close with camels! They are beautiful creatures, their faces full of expression - the photo here being a prime example! It was good to talk with the herders (we had a guide with us to help with translation). It turned out they had travelled from the Gobi region, so had been transporting their herd for 5 weeks already. It's difficult to imagine having to transport things over such a long distance, but this is everyday life for many Mongolians. Anyway, you can see some photos of the trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/schliner/TripToHustaiPark - hope you enjoy them!

The Rugby World Cup Final - Last night (or to be more precise this morning) I and some of the other VSO volunteers stayed up to watch the Big Match - the Rugby World Cup Final, England Vs South Africa. We managed to find out that the match was being broadcast on TV5 Asie (a French international TV station), so went round to a friend's house to watch the game. The pre-match build up was the best bit, as all of us had to stay up until 3am local time for the kick-off. However, I now wish I didn't bother staying up - it was a pretty awful game in my opinion! Anyway, at least I had some fellow English people to commiserate with, and the South African volunteer was very humble in victory...

As you can see, I've managed to fit a lot in. However, I'm now feeling pretty exhausted. Early night for me tonight! Best wishes,

Robert

The road goes on...

Wow - two months down! The time seems to be flying at the moment, which I suppose is a good sign. I'm being kept quite busy at work, which suits me just fine (makes me feel like I'm being useful and stops me moping around). Outside of work, I've managed to make some friends, so have a good group of people to relax with. My flat's pretty sorted now, having even managed to get a toilet seat for our bathroom - luxury! So, what have I been up to the last seven days? Well, whilst this week was a bit more packed, I managed to fit in two more visits to different network member organisations.

The first trip was to DEMO, the Democracy Education Centre. DEMO does lots of interesting work, focusing on three main areas - to promote democratic ideals amongst secondary school children, to build the capacity of Mongolian non-governmental organisations, and to provide training to young people involved in politics. It was this final area that really caught my imagination- DEMO runs sessions for the youth members of all political parties, in the hope that the young people will work together across party lines, and build up long term friendships for each other. This way DEMO hopes that politics will be run with a spirit of cooperation and respect in the future. Perhaps this is something that could be replicated in the UK?

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On Wednesday I went to the Second Hospital, and after 10 minutes stumbled across what I was looking for - the Mongolian Blood Donors Association's headquarters. I say 'stumbled' because the headquarters are little more than a small room. After talking with the director, it became apparent that the association is in need of some assistance. They don't have a permanent office space, they only have one staff member (the director, who incidentally volunteers her time - there is no money available to pay for her salary) and don't have a computer. Despite all these problems the association does fantastic stuff! They manage to encourage people in the many different regions of Mongolia to donate their blood, which is no easy feat considering the land area that has to be covered (Mongolia is the largest landlocked country in the world). Whilst the need for blood is not always met, the work of the National Blood Donors Association has saved many lives. During the same visit I was privileged to meet some of the more experienced blood donors, who had interesting stories to tell. I felt very lucky to shake hands with Mongolia's oldest blood donor (who can be seen in the photo below, second from the right).

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October the 11th was the National Day for the Blind, so I made the trip up to the Trade Union Centre to see what was going on (and to also view the assistance that some National AIDS Foundation volunteers were offering to the event). I had a great time. The main bulk of the day was focused raising awareness about blind people, and giving the general public advice on how to care for their sight. The hall was packed with stalls, many of which had blind people showcasing some of the work they do (the majority worked in the field of handicrafts or food production). However, the stall that really caught my attention was the one run by the Association of Blind Masseurs. Whilst it was a slight abuse of my work time, my host for the day insisted that I have not one, but two massages! I tell you what - the masseurs were fantastic! However, the Mongolian style of massage is very strong and forceful. At one point the masseur grabbed hold of my neck and in one swift motion pushed it to the other side of my body. CRACK! I had never heard such a sound, or thought that my body could produce it! Feeling very relaxed I then went to see a concert organised by blind performers. I was very impressed - the singers were fantastic, and the piano players also deserve a mention. All in all the day was great, one of the best I've had in Mongolia so far. Work can be tough sometimes...

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That's me signing off until next weekend. Hope you all have a good week ahead, take care of yourselves,

sas

Robert

A first glimpse of Mongolian winter...

Woke up this morning and looked outside my window… snow! My first glimpse of snow in Mongolia. I guess that’s it, winter is going to set in soon. Luckily enough my wardrobe is well stocked with jumpers, hats and gloves, so the cold temperatures don’t seem as daunting as they once were (thanks to all of you who donated to my winter clothing fund!). I was very excited by the snow, but was soon brought down to earth by my flatmate Jon. He’s from a cold part of Canada and so is used to it all – he was very blasé!

Trips to different Mongolian organisations – this week I had the pleasure of going to visit four more of the network member organisations (see last week’s entry for more details). First up was Dayartugs (which literally means “it’s perfect”). Dayartugs are a very small, newly established NGO, which aims to promote volunteerism amongst Mongolian young people. Dayartugs is working on many projects, despite the fact that they only have three staff members, all of which work voluntarily. Second was the Liberal Women’s Brain Pool, an organisation set up after the fall of communism to promote women’s ideas. Whilst some of the work that the organisation deals with is linked specifically to helping women (especially in the field of political participation), the organisation was keen to point out the many other areas that it has worked on. I was very impressed by the mobile library scheme that they have set up, designed to improve literacy in rural areas.

Thursday’s visit was to the Ethics and Motherland Association. I got the chance to talk to their passionate director, Ulaankhuu, who explained to me the association’s mission – to promote respect for Mongolia and to build a sense of community amongst young people (things that have been damaged in the years since the fall of communism). Last but not least was a trip to see Service for Peace. Service for Peace are an international organisation that use local volunteers to do community projects. The volunteers believe that a peaceful society can be built if everyone works together for the good of all. All the organisations are doing fantastic things, despite facing financial constraints – I’m very impressed with Mongolian organisations so far!

Visit to school’s anniversary concert – I’ve made friends with a Mongolian student and was lucky enough to be taken out to Ulaanbaatar’s very grand wrestling palace. Unfortunately I was not there to see wrestling, but on the other hand I got to see something that not many other foreigners would see – the Number 16 School’s 65th Anniversary celebrations! What an extravaganza it was. The wrestling stadium was packed with cheering young people, all proud to celebrate their school’s history. Different classes took charge of different stages of the evening (and even the teachers joined in at the end), so there were a real variety of events. We were treated to gymnastic performances, dances and songs. It was a great event, and left a big impression on me – not many young people in the UK would have such pride in their school, and not many schools would dare attempt such a grandiose occasion (even for their 100th birthday!).

That’s it for another week. Just before I sign off I’d like to say thanks for everyone’s comments left on the blog, and any emails you’ve been sending me. It always cheers me up to receive comments/news from all of you (even if I don’t reply straight away!). Best wishes to everyone,

Robert