Goodbye Tolgoit NGO!

My three-week stint at Tolgoit NGO is nearly at an end, but what have I been up to? Well, part of my time has been spent doing training sessions for the organisation’s volunteers. We’ve also done some work on creating a volunteer operational manual – a list of procedures that the organisation should follow when recruiting and using volunteers. In addition, I’ve done regular English classes for the staff. This has been an enjoyable new adventure for me. I don’t know if I’d want to do it full-time, but the interaction in the classroom, and the progress that the participants have made is great.

Tolgoit itself is an interesting district, a lot more basic than the centre of Ulaanbaatar. 90% of the people live in ger tent houses, and many people have to survive on low incomes. The result – some people are still using horse and cart to transport things around the place. The staff that I work with are really kind, and always have smiles on their faces. None of them speak good English, so I’ve been having to put my Mongolian to the test! I must admit it’ll be sad to leave… However, I won’t miss the 50 minute bus ride every morning!

Sandstorms! – The weather is crazy at the moment! Whilst things are a lot warmer, the day can fluctuate between snow and intense sun in a few hours! Mongolians say that in Springtime it’s possible to see all 4 seasons in one day, and I have to say that I agree with this analysis. Perhaps the strangest (and uncomfortable) thing to deal with are the Springtime sandstorms. Very strong winds strike without warning, spreading dust at high speeds down the city’s streets. The problem is compounded by the fact that Ulaanbaatar doesn’t have much vegetation – dust collects and is not trapped by grass. The result is quite dramatic. I’ve seen cartoon style mini-whirlwinds of dust pass me by on the street, blowing peoples hats of if their unlucky to be caught up in them! Rob’s top tip: keep sunglasses handy, as they provide eyes with a useful protection from the gusts of dust.

Lots of love to you all, take care,

Robert

A tough week at work...

The last week has been a tough one. I didn’t really achieve much at work, and as my primary reason for being here in Mongolia is to help out, I felt a bit useless! However, I’m starting a three-week work assignment at Tolgoit NGO, a volunteering organization out in the Western ger tent district of the city. Not only do they seem very organized, bit they’re a friendly bunch too! It’s also good to be a bit more down-to-earth, working with volunteers on the ground in one of the poorest districts of the city (you can see the street by Tolgoit's office in the photo above). I’ll tell you more about my work experience as the weeks go by... But what else have I been up to?

Graffiti Madness – the Alliance Francaise had organised for a French graffiti artist to come to Ulaanbaatar. As such things are pretty rare here, this was something that I couldn’t miss out on. My friends and I made our way to Metropolis Nightclub on Wednesday night, and saw some pretty impressive things. The artist started off doing graffiti style photos. He took shots of people and then set the camera to a lower shutter speed and used different colour torches to make graffiti style imprints onto the final photo. The results were impressive! The artist also did graffiti on the walls of the club, and on people’s bodies – check out my new tattoo (don’t worry Mama, it’s temporary!):
Trip to Wrestling Palace – quite why I’ve waited until now to make the trip to the wrestling palace is a mystery, but I’m glad that I finally made the trip to see some Mongolian wrestling. It was quite a spectacle – the wrestling itself was not so exciting, and dragged on for hours, but the traditions on display were fascinating. The day’s event was launched by a stirring rendition of the national anthem, played by an army band. Then came some Buddhist chanting, led by three Buddhist monks. After that, great masses of wrestlers came onto the floor, and started parading their hats and doing a dance around the referees. Once this was completed the wrestling began, although to the untrained eye it seemed like a free-for-all! Wrestlers would fight each other until one had managed to force the other to the round – your opponent’s knees or elbows must hit the floor in order for you to win. The victor would do a quick eagle dance (flapping their arms like eagles) and then collect some chocolates from the Buddhist monks on hand. They would then throw the chocolates into the crowd (who would frantically try to catch them, as eating a winning wrestler’s chocolate is considered good luck). Unfortunately I was seated on the other side of the stadium to the Buddhist monks, so did not manage to increase my luck levels at this sitting. After the throwing of the chocolates, the wrestler would almost immediately take another wrestler on. This onslaught lasts for over 5 hours, until only one wrestler is left, although I must admit I left after 2 and a half hours!

Church building – I’ve been going to a church in the 3rd district for some time now, as I feel the community is much closer-knit than that at the cathedral (where there are more foreigners, and the church is so big that it often dwarfs the relatively small congregation that turns up on Sundays). Another drawing point is that the 3rd district church is held in a ger tent, which certainly makes the whole Sunday Mass experience that little bit more unique. Despite this unique selling point, the locals have the crazy idea of wanting to build a new permanent structure (understandable I suppose, as if you’re Mongolian the novelty of ger tents is comparatively smaller!). After months of wrangling with the local authorities, the Good Shepard Parish have finally got approval to build a church on their site. There’s now a flurry of activity, as everyone is excited to build “their new church”. This Sunday we cleared the site of the old ger tents, and the coming weeks ahead will see further work take place. It was really nice to lend a hand, as not only did I feel like I was doing something exciting and worthwhile, but it was also great to do some physical exercise (working in an office environment has some limitations). I look forward to lending a further hand in the months ahead.

As always, I’m thinking of you all and hope that you’re well. Take care of yourselves, best wishes,

Robert

The end of the line...

In the literal sense anyway! Last week I had a trip to Sukhbaatar City, the northern most city on the Mongolian railway. It's a largish city of about 20,000 people, and is 15 kilometres away from the Russian border. I was on a mission to scout out a project that VSO may work with in the future. Sukhbaatar is host to a farming cooperative run by volunteers. The volunteers help the local residents grow vegetables and breed animals as a way of supplementing their income.

This type of initiative is desperately needed in the city, as 50% of the population are unemployed. Going somewhere with a 50% unemployment rate is pretty interesting in its own right, but consider this - 20 years ago, under communism, the city had full employment. Needless to say, the local residents all fondly remember the "good old days", and are finding life in the new capitalist world tough to deal with. Some people have of course done well for themselves, but the fact that their wealth is visible to the rest of the city somehow makes the situation that much harder to bear.

Signs of the past glory of Sukhbaatar are there for all to see. The three (now disused) factories dominate the skyline, and many shops are now boarded-up. In such an atmosphere, it's no surprise that most young people want to leave for Ulaanbaatar as soon as they can. However, whilst I'm painting a picture of doom and gloom, the locals were all very friendly and proud of their city. As usual, Mongolian hospitality came to the fore, and I was force-fed buuz (meat dumplings) until I could eat no more! I cannot forget the surrounding countryside too - it was stunning. A short drive from the city takes you to areas of mountains and lakes, areas which mankind has not altered.

Back in Ulaanbaatar: I've just had a long working week (hence the delay in posting my blog entry - sorry!), so am looking forward to having a break soon. Whilst I was working this Saturday I found time in the evening to go to the Nomin Theatre to see a production of "The Blithe Spirit", performed by the local expat community. Our very own VSO volunteer Sophie was one of the main stars, so it was great to see her perform.

I hope you are all well. Lots of love to all of you, take care of yourselves,

Robert