Robert Slinn - Movie Star

Yes, I am shortly to appear at a cinema near you (or at least university)! A film crew from VSO headquarters are working on a short promotional film about youth volunteering, a decided to come to Mongolia to cover the work that I and two of my fellow young volunteers are doing. How exciting! The film crew followed me round for a day, and did interviews with some of my colleagues. We went to visit Amnesty International Mongolia, and also did a quick shoot of the volunteers' forum that I've recently helped set up. It was a real pleasure to do the filming, not least because the film crew were so nice (and bought me lunch!). The next day was a bit strange though - no longer was I the centre of attention! I'm really looking forward to seeing the film when it's completed, it will be a great souvenir of my time in Mongolia.

Disability Day - on the 11th of June the disabled community hosted a day full of events, designed to celebrate the achievements and abilities of the disabled. The focal point of the day was held in the square by the main cinema/museum to Lenin. Many disabled people ran stalls showcasing their handicrafts. There was also a large stage upon which disabled people sang songs and played music. In addition, local politicians/VIPs used the stage to hand out certificates to those lucky enough to warrant them. My own personal highlight was going to the "wheelchair marathon", an event which was held on the outskirts of the city. I'm currently doing a three-week stint at the Wheelchair Users' Association, and director Chuka asked me to be photographer for the day. Participants undertook the 5km course in extremely hot weather, so I take my hat of to them! Disability is an interesting issue in Mongolia - most people respect the disabled (for instance, drivers will incredibly not honk their horns when wheelchair users are blocking the traffic when getting in and out of taxis). However, little is being done to insure that disabled people can access facilities. Hopefully things will improve in the future, VSO is certainly making this area one of their priorities...

The Election -Mongolia is gearing up for its parliamentary election, which take place on the 29th of June. The streets are fully of adverts and party flags, and microbuses displaying party posters dash around the city. The two main contenders are the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (the ex-communists) and the Democratic Union Party. These two parties will probably take over 90% of the seats available. However, Mongolia has 8 parties competiting - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Mongolia for more details. It seems that you can divide people into two categories - those that passionately support one party (the young generally support the Democratic Party and are against the Revolutionary Party, whilst the poor and the old support the old order) and those that simply don't care about the election ("all politicians are corrupt, the elections won't change anything"). I'll keep you all updated over the coming blog posts...

End of language lessons -yes, the time has come for me to wind down some of my activities. As I'm leaving in 2 months I've decided to stop taking my Mongolian lessons (also my teacher is now on her holidays, and so I think she's keen to wind down all her activities for a month or two). The lessons were great, although perhaps too focused on grammar (a common feature in Mongolian education - many people know all the complex English grammar, but have trouble actually speaking). My teacher Alta was a really nice person, someone who always smiled. She was a pleasure to talk to, and was very patient with me!

Finishing the lessons is a bit like the first nail in the coffin of my Mongolian adventure. It's a bit sad to think about leaving Mongolia, as I've started to settle and have made some good friends. Also my job usually keeps me entertained and throws up surprises, something which may be hard to recreate in a job in the UK. However, I'm really looking forward to seeing my family and friends again, so that's a big positive! Bythway, the flight is booked - I'm back on August the 12th. I hope you all have a bit of free time in August/September, it would be great to catch up with anyone who is available! Lots of love to you all,

Robert

P.S. I'm currently writing lots of job applications for my return to the UK. Wish me luck!