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.
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...
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. as
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
1 comment:
Hi rob,
Not sure how you can even think of being depressed or mopey! so much to do and so many interesting visits...lucky you.
Keep warm,
Liz
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