Projects Abroad, Newsletters from Mongolia

The Lotus Children’s Centre is a Mongolian non-profit, non-government organization working with vulnerable children and families to provide the basic human rights of shelter, food and education. They care for up to 150 abused, orphaned and abandoned children at any one time.

Happy New Year! On 14th-16th February all of the stores are closed and there is very little traffic on Peace Avenue. Everyone is at home celebrating Tsagaan Sar. This is the last day of the last month of winter, called white moon or white month. It is one of the two big holidays here in Mongolia and the office is closed for three days to celebrate. It is kind of like Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years all rolled into one celebration.

Winter usually lasts from mid October until April, with the coldest period occurring between mid December and the end of February or mid March (temperatures usually drop to -20 or -30°C and occasionally even lower throughout Mongolia). Snow usually falls between mid-October and mid-April.

Mongolian Ger is ideally suited for the country’s extreme climate and the people’s nomadic way of life. It is a multipurpose dwelling that can be easily dismantled and transported to another place and put up again fully preserving its original shape. Being constantly on the move with herds of animals or being on military campaigns, compelled Mongols to build Ger on carts.

At this time of year the summer pastures in the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia are strewn with belongings, and there’s a steady trickle of baggage-laden camels, yaks and horses down the slopes. Fall is fast approaching, and the Mongol and Kazakh herders who inhabit this land of craggy peaks, wide valleys and silver blue lakes are on the move, heading for lower pastures until winter sets in.

I never knew how to picture Mongolia. Besides a vision of special white tents and relatively choppy men wrestling, I honestly did not know what to expect. The curiosity to see and experience this remote country was soon replaced by great satisfaction and happiness that I had come. Having travelled a few weeks in Russia, Mongolia was a big change – a nice one.

I signed up to volunteer for the State Orphanage through ‘Projects Abroad’. This orphanage has over two hundred children aged between 3 and 17 years old. Every summer, the children stay at the summer camp, in the country side – about an hour’s drive away from Ulaanbaatar. Here, we were surrounded by many trees, tall mountains, lakes and the big blue sky...

During those three days of celebrations, we stowed away from the hustle and bustle of Ulaanbaatar to escape to the heaven on earth of the countryside. There, my host family invited me into their family reunion and traditions. From football (soccer), to touring the countryside, to archery and horse racing, I was welcomed into the games and the fun. Spending time and bonding with my host family and also being so welcomed by everyone (including the most excellent Projects Abroad Mongolia staff) have left me really touched. I cannot express how much I appreciate everything here.

International Working Woman's Day (IWD) is marked on March 8 every year. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women. Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries. In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love to the women around them in a way somewhat similar to Mother's Day and St Valentine's Day mixed together.

Mongolians will celebrate soon their most esteemed national holiday. Tsagaan Sar (the White Month) The first month of each spring has been one of the most important Mongolian celebrations for centuries. It is the time when winter passes, and spring is reborn. Chinggis Khaan played a most significant role in the creation of Tsagaan Sar.

I came to Mongolia keen to experience a different culture and to explore some of the amazing countryside I had seen in photographs of Mongolia. I arrived early in the morning by train from Russia and was already struck by the generosity of the people I had met on the train who shared all of their amazing food with me. I had Buuz for breakfast when I arrived which were amazing and my first experience of traditional Mongolian food.

This weekend five students from all different nationalities wanted to discover the wonders that “Happy Camel”, a company that run tours and expeditions within Mongolia, advertise. The students from Australia, England, Switzerland, Germany and Holland met at “Chez Bernard” Café (where “Happy Camel” is based) in the morning to leave for their planned journey to inner Mongolia.

Huvsgul lake has over ten varieties of fish, including the famous omoul, taimen, lenok, thymallus arcticus, etc. The icy lake looks like a brilliant mirror laying in the middle of the surrounding mountains covered with bright white snow. Though at Huvsgul lake, winter is the coldest time of the year the native inhabitant ethnic groups, such as darhads, buryats, urianhias, hotgoids, tsaatan reindeer breeders very much like the winter season. Reindeer breeders are the best winter herders and the reindeers are the most winter adapted animals.