Half-Way there!

I’ve reached a big milestone – six months in Mongolia! It’s quite an achievement I think, so I’m giving myself a pat on the back. Getting through the harsh winter was a bit of a struggle at times, as was the initial settling in period. However, the weather has recently become a lot warmer, so in that respect life is a lot easier (for instance, walking for pleasure is now a possibility). I’ve also made some nice Mongolian friends, and have got to form some good relationships with my fellow volunteers.

Before I update you on what I’ve been doing I must first apologise. I’m sorry for the delay in posting this blog entry, but I’m in a busy period of work at the moment. All will be revealed below…

Volunteers’ Forum – Last Saturday was the first ever meeting of Mongolia’s Volunteers’ Forum (please insert fanfare). Over 40 volunteers from a large variety of organisations got together to discuss how they could work more closely together. We looked at how the Volunteer Forum should work, and what kind of things it should work on in the future.

The creation of a volunteers’ forum is something that I’ve been working on for the past month. I thought that it was strange that whilst there is a network for Mongolian volunteer-involving organisations, there was no body actually representing volunteers themselves (the Network just deals with the staff of organisations). Whilst it remains to be seen if this forum will be sustainable, the initial signs are promising. The turnout was good, and the participants seemed enthusiastic. Keep your fingers crossed!

Network Meeting – It’s been a while since the last meeting of the Network of Mongolian Volunteer Organisations that I work for (see http://rob-in-mongolia.blogspot.com/2007/11/november-9th-network-meeting.html). Thus, this coming Friday and Saturday we’re organising a huge, 2 day-long meeting! Friday morning the participants will all get on a specially laid on bus which will take them to UB2 tourist camp, situated in the mountain range outside of Ulaanbaatar. Things on the agenda include the introduction of new resources that the Network has been working on, and a discussion on how more men can be encouraged to become volunteers (about 90% of volunteers are women). We’ll also have some social time, so that the members of the Network can get to know each other a bit better. As we’re asking people to stay for two days, the meeting had better be good!

I’ll report back on this meeting in the next entry, but for now I send you my best wishes. I hope that all is going well for all of you and that you’re having fun. Take care of yourselves,

Robert

Trip to Hutul

This week I was lucky enough to travel out to the countryside for two days, visiting a volunteer project in the small town of Hutul (about three hours away from Ulaanbaatar). My mission: to gather facts so that I can write a case study on volunteering for VSO Mongolia's annual review. I was really inspired by what I saw. Volunteers had taken it upon themselves to help those most in need in their society. And what a success they had had...

Kindergarten project - The poor ger district of the town is some 3 kilometers from the nearest kindergarten, which meant that during the very cold winters children simply didn't go to kindergarten. As a result, their education was limited, and their parents had less free time to clean the house/do part-time work. Two volunteers got together and decided something needed to be done. They didn't mess around! They managed to secure funding from the Asian Development Fund, and got assurances from the Department for Education that it would provide a teacher for the kindergarten. Then they got to work on renovating a disused building near the ger district. Now over 25 children use the kindergarten, most of which did not previously go to the central kindergarten.

Secure livilihoods training - Unemployment is a big problem in Hutul, so many people struggle to get by. Again, a group of volunteers saw this problem and decided to act. They organised some training on how to grow vegetables effectively, and how to make bags and other handcrafts. The people that were trained now produce good yields of vegetables, which not only improves their diets but also gives them an alternative source of income. The bag making also adds to families' incomes. The results have been remarkable - one family I visited had, in the space of three years, gathered enough money to buy a house! Not only had they gained financially, but many also commented that they now had a new sense of purpose in their lives.

My trip to Hutul wasn't a complete positive though, as I got quite sick. It's probably got to do with the vodka made from fermented milk that one of the volunteers gave to me. Also the lack of sleep in the freezing hotel I was staying in contributed. Whilst I'm feeling better now I was out of action for two days... It's exciting to travel to new areas and see new things, but the experience is dampened a little if you're feeling ill! Now I'm back in Ulaanbaatar, and have the weekend to completely recover, so no problems there. I hope you're all doing well and keeping yourselves healthy. Lots of love,

Robert

Mongolian New Year

The 8th of February was Mongolian New Year, or as the locals call it, Tsagaan Sar (White Moon). During this time people will visit the houses of their older relatives and friends, and will generally have a great time – eating, drinking and singing. The Tsagaan Sar holiday lasts for three days. The first day is spent with direct family, and the following days are opportunities to visit more distant relatives or friends. People would do a lot of house-hopping, visiting perhaps 3 or 4 houses a day. The older generation hosts, and the young generation does the travelling.

I was lucky enough to be invited a few houses during the Tsagaan Sar period. Otgo, one of the staff at Amnesty Mongolia, invited me to spend Tsagaan Sar Eve and the morning of Tsagaan Sar itself with her family in their ger tent. It was lovely to see the many traditions. The man of the house has to be the first to walk out of the door in the morning, and will walk in the “wrong direction” (sorry, some things were lost in translation!) and then double back. Then the family will offer some milk to their Buddhist shrine, and will sprinkle some milk in the direction of the sky and the nearby mountains. This is to pay thanks to the spirits of nature.

After my trip to ger district I then rushed to catch a bus and headed into the city to visit my next family. Gana, one of my volunteer friends, had very kindly invited me to visit her grandparents’ house. It was a lovely experience, and a real honour to be part of the family’s celebrations (usually the first day of Tsagaan Sar is reserved for family only). Everyone was a bit perplexed by the white guy sitting in the corner, but was welcoming after the initial surprise factor had worn off! We sat and chatted the day away. Many people were coming in and out of the house, I felt like I had met 10% of the Mongolian population!

It was fascinating to see the tradition culture being lived out in a modern city. There’s a lot of Tsagaan Sar etiquette, which was a bit difficult to get my head round. However, I don’t think I really offended anyone. One of the traditions is that everyone greats each other according to their age, and is given a good sniff before they can sit down! Women will then sit on one side of the room and men on the other. The women do all the serving, whilst the men sit down and chat – whilst it was nice to be pampered for a few days I did feel a bit uncomfortable! Everyone seemed quite happy with it though. Throughout the celebrations men pass round snuff bottles and shots of vodka. The vodka is actually a good idea, as it’s needed to help the digestive system deal with all the fatty food that’s being served.

Food is a big part of the celebrations, and as usual meat plays a big part in the cuisine. There is a constant supply of buuz (meat dumplings) being provided, and the men cut slabs of meat from a huge chunk of mutton in the centre of the main table. The women of the household will ensure that you do not leave without a full stomach – “Ead, ead, ead!” (which helpfully enough sounds exactly the same as “eat, eat, eat!”).

Each family has a cake which is the centrepiece of the Tsagaan Sar table. The cake is built up of many layers. The odd layers symbolise good times, and the even layers symbolise sadness. Needless to say, every family’s cake finishes off on an odd number! The number of layers also signifies the age of the head of the household. Grandparents would have 7 layers, middle aged people would have 5 layers and new parents would have 3. The cake is not eaten until Tsagaan Sar is over.

The event was a real reminder of what much of Western culture has lost. It was really touching to see the strong connections between the family members. The grandparents were treated with a lot of respect, and the house was packed with visitors for the them. I’ll remember Tsagaan Sar for a long time. Back to the “real world” now though, as I’m in the office on Monday. Better do some exercise to burn off all the fatty food!

I wish you all a very good Year of the Rat, take care of yourselves,

Robert

Escape from Ulaanbaatar

This weekend I took the trip up to Darkhan for a quick break (eagle-eyed blog watchers will know that I have been to Darkhan twice before). What a break it was! It was so good to be able to get out of the city and get away from all the traffic and pollution. In Darkhan the air was clear, and the city was (almost) free of noise. It was possible to hear birds singing! The icing on the cake was that during my stay I was being looked after by my Filipino friends, who really know how to take care of people. Their hospitality (and cooking!) gets five stars. The only shame is that two of them are soon to finish their time here in Mongolia, and will be going back home. Hopefully we’ll keep in touch.

Rob, speaker extraordinaire- Last Thursday I had the priviledge of being invited to talk at the Amnesty Mongolia all-members meeting. AI Mongolia asked me to talk about Amnesty in the UK. The audience was pretty interested to hear about the situation in the UK, and had some good questions for me. I talked about Amnesty's membership in the UK, and the controversial issues that surround the movement at the moment. I was one of two speakers, sharing a platform with a former Mongolian diplomat - not bad going I think! I feel very honoured.

VSO volunteers evacuated from Kenya – Due to the increasing troubles in Kenya, VSO has taken the decision to evacuate all of its volunteers in the nation, until things calm down a bit (see http://www.vso.org.uk/vso_withdraws_volunteers_from_kenya.asp for more details). This news has a particular impact on me, as I was first allocated to go on a placement to Kenya, before eventually settling for Mongolia. It could have been me being evacuated at the moment! Whilst I’m sure there would be exciting sides to this experience, having my family constantly worrying and watching the news for updates on the situation is something I wouldn’t want to put them through. Elections take place in Mongolia later this year, but we shouldn’t have similar difficulties here (fingers crossed)…

Preparing for Tsagaan Saar – this coming weekend will be Mongolian New Year, so everyone is getting ready for the big celebrations. People are stocking up their houses with lots of treats, and those that have families in the countryside will soon leave Ulaanbaatar for their homes. I’m lucky enough to have been invited to visit two families over this special period, and will report back my experiences in the next edition.

Best wishes from a festive Mongolia,

Robert

Idle hands

I thought I'd take the opportunity this week to tell you all a bit about the regular things I get up to outside of work. Not one for just lazing around at home (at this point members of my family will snigger!), I spend some of my free time learning Mongolian and running English language sessions for Mongolians.

The Mongolian Language Challenge - I'm quite conscious of the fact that getting a firmer grasp of the local language will give me a greater chance to explore Mongolian culture. It'll also allow me to interact more with the lovely Mongolian people! As a result, I'm trying to improve my Mongolian and have a one-to-one language lesson once a week. Whilst progress is slow I'm getting somewhere. It's not as daunting as when I first arrived. At the very least I'm now able to read Cyrillic. Also, my knowledge of food vocabulary is pretty good - I've got my priorities right!

English language sessions - Perhaps the most useful skill I have to offer to Mongolians is my language. Young people here are very keen to practice their English with a native speaker, so I've had requests from three groups to run English language sessions with them. The result is that I now run language club sessions three times a week. These sessions are great fun, as I get to chat about all sorts of topics with Mongolians. Last week I managed to find a video about the previous foot and mouth outbreak in the UK, which I showed to one of my groups. The participants found it quite interesting - many Mongolians are from farming backgrounds, so they could relate to what the British farmers were saying. On a side point, I had a chat with a group about religion, and it turned out that one of the participants was a shamanist. This person then told me about the shaman they regularly visit, and proceeded to show me their shaman's business card. Even shamans have embraced modernisation!

N.B. I should point out that I do a fair amount of meeting up with friends and watching films too! "Lazy Rob" surfaces from time-to-time. On that note, it's time for me to go home and get some sleep! Lots of love to you all,

Robert

Snow everywhere!

The cold weather continues, but what has been quite fun is that we’ve finally had some snow falling, so Ulaanbaatar looks quite beautiful at the moment. People are busy brushing the snow off the streets and monuments, but I happen to think that everything looks a lot prettier with a dusting of snow.

Friends from the North - This week we are lucky enough to be hosting some young people from Buryatia, a neighbouring republic in the Russian Federation. Their ethnicity and culture is very similar to the Mongolians, so they slot quite well into life here. The only difficulty is the language barrier, as I don’t really know any Russian. However, I can pick up the odd word or two with my Polish. They’re here to share experiences with Mongolian youth organisations, and so far the visit is going very well. If all goes to plan a delegation of young people from Mongolia will do a return visit to Lake Baikal in the summer – if that happens I’ll try to tag along too!

Visit to the Lenin Museum – a pretty surreal experience. The Communist Party of Mongolia is still operating (albeit under a different name), and still own a building dedicated to Lenin. You are greeted to the building by a huge statue of the “great man” (about 30 feet tall), which is placed in front of a wall upon which the words “workers of the world unite!” are written in many languages. However, the building is undergoing huge renovation, and much of the old artwork is being disposed of. I asked the staff what will become of all the old propaganda posters, books and statues, and they just said they will be thrown away. This is criminal in my opinion – I’m sure some museum would love to get their hands on this stuff. Anyway, the building will soon be turned into a supermarket. This has to be one of the clearest signs of transition from Communism to Capitalism! I’m sure the old communists are rolling in their graves…

An evening at the ballet – a real experience, as I’ve never been to the ballet before. I’ve got to say that I had a great time. Some friends and I went to see Swan Lake, and whilst I didn’t fully understand the story it was very interesting and enjoyable. The live orchestra was fantastic, and the coordination of the many ballet dancers was amazing to see. I’ve never really had the chance to go to see the ballet in the UK before (mainly because of the ticket prices). Next up may be an opera!

Cold hugs from Mongolia,

Robert

It's very cold!

Pretty crazy eh! It's unlikely I'll ever experience such temperatures again in my life. However, it's not as bad as it sounds (providing one wraps up well). The real shock is when you take your gloves off to write a text message - withing 30 seconds your hands start burning with pain! As a result I've become pretty bad at replying to texts... I'm not complaining though, as it's an interesting experience. If I was to stay in Mongolia permanently it would be a different matter. The real problem is for the Mongolian farmers, as their livestock will suffer during this period of extreme cold. Some will really struggle to keep their animals alive.


The alcohol ban - not only do Mongolians have to put up with the extreme temperatures, but they're currently not allowed to have any alcohol to warm their hearts! This is because 14 people have recently died from drinking poisonous vodka (another 60 people are in hospital with alcohol poisoning). The government was quick to respond, banning the sale of all alcohol. See this BBC article for more info - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7167556.stm, it's not often that Mongolia gets coverage on the BBC. Whilst it seems a bit extreme to ban ALL alcohol (including imports, and non-vodka related drinks), the real positive is that it's forcing many of Mongolia's alcoholics to curb their drinking habits. This is especially good as during most winters drunk people fall asleep outside in the cold and unfortunately never wake up...

Ulaanbaatar's pollution - As temperatures dip, the need for heating increases. This means that the power stations are at full capacity, and the people living in the ger tent houses (which are not connected to the main heating system) are burning lots of coal to keep warm. The result, Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted city in the world! It's quite noticeable in the evenings, I'll often be coughing during my walk home from work. Funnily enough, the BBC has another helpful article, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6376203.stm

Why all of this talk about pollution, struggling farmers and people dying on the streets Rob? Well, life isn't that easy for Mongolians at the moment. They must be a pretty tough bunch of people to get through this cold patch year in, year out! Lots of love,

Robert