Today we bounced for about 90 minutes over 30km of road to Yaruu Soum. This tiny place (an ironic description considering the epic hills and valleys around it) is home to about 2500 people (many living in the countryside around the town). They have a youth employment problem, as the only jobs going are in local government, the school and the health centre – all managed from outside the soum. They had requested that ADRA come to have a chat about setting up a Family Education program there. We had a meeting with various town representatives and the NFE coordinator. I only got the summary translation from Tungaa, but I began to feel depressed myself with the litany of woe. One of the problems with doing “problems analysis” is that it can make community representatives compete with other communities to prove that they are more disadvantaged, or the bigger “victims” in order to be selected as partners with NGOs such as ADRA. This is ironic, given that many NGOs believe that they exist to help people build their human capacity.
As I couldn’t participate in the discussion I started writing a list of what could be strengths of the community based on my short observations. Top of my list was utilising the raw materials they had (sheep, goats, yak, and timber). I was happy to hear in my next translated summary that the local government had done an informal market survey and felt that there was potential for small businesses in carpentry (using local timber) and wool and felt crafts (using the fleece of their animals). So at least we were thinking along common lines.
After the meeting with the leaders we went outside to meet the “unemployed youth”. They were mostly boys, which is different to the other groups I have seen on this trip. They were divided into five groups of five and given a group exercise about the issues they face in finding employment (an exercise Natalie had designed a few months earlier for another project – so she was happy to see them using it. They guys relaxed pretty quickly into the exercise and soon were sprawled on the grass discussing their responses. I haven’t been given a translated summary yet, but Tungaa told me that the issue of alcohol abuse was raised, and the issue that young, pretty girls tend to get most of the jobs available (I have observed that also, so it is something worth looking into).
A storm was rolling in, but held off until after our meeting. We were taken to the NFE director’s house for lunch, as there is no café in this soum. Tungaa tome me that she was told that there were no vegetables available in the soum and they didn’t know what to cook us for lunch. The two other ADRA staff with us (who can hear English but not really speak it) went off to do som ehunging for us. About 90 minutes later they returned with potato dumplings they had made themselves at the school kitchen. The school principal and the NFE director tried some of our vege dumplings (usually they are full of minced mutton and fat) and declared them an excellent idea. So maybe we have introduced some culinary diversity to Yaruu Soum.
We bounced back to Uliastai, arriving at about 4pm. With no other activities planned, Nat and I went for a walk. In Mongolia you walk by picking a spot in the distance and then aiming for it. So we picked some gate thing that was at the base of a nearby mountain. About 40 minutes later we reached it. We have no idea what its original purpose was, and it is crumbling a bit now, but the site at the base of the mountain was impressive and we had a nice view back over Uliastai.
We don’t fly out until lunch time tomorrow, so we will be twiddling our thumbs until then. There has been lots of down time on this trip, and I have to get used to the slower pace of life in the countryside (as it was in PNG). But overall I have loved the open spaces and enjoyed being welcomed by the people. I start Mongolian lessons the day after I get back to UB, so hopefully I will be a fraction more self-sufficient on my next trip to the countryside.
Post-script – the trip home
The ADRA staff left us at 9am, as they had two more weeks left to go on the road. We waited in language isolation for the driver that was to take us to the airport. He showed up over an hour late with a hand-written note in English that said the plane was delayed. He had been going around town finding someone who wrote English to write the note for him! Nat and I were instantly deflated. We did not realise just how much we wanted to head home until the prospect of not going home that day became almost certain. We retreated into our ipods, not knowing how long we would have to wait. Thankfully about 20 minutes later the driver came and indicated we should go to his car. A bouncy forty minutes later (I now know just how comfortable our new Prado really is) we were checked in at the small local airport.
Eventually the flight arrived, we got on, took off and then the turbulence started. Because we were on the plane all the announcements were done in Mongolian and English, but we had trouble understanding the English despite this courtesy. We did pick up that we were diverting to Tosensengel though. It took about 20 minutes to fly from Uliastai to Tosensengel. These 20 minutes were some of the worst turbulance I have had, with lots of bouncing and sudden drops that caused our stomachs to lurch. Natalie stared stoically out the window. It was her first flight on a plane smaller than an international jet. I distracted myself with an episode of “Cook and the Chef” on the ipod. When we landed everyone got off the plane as quickly as they could. At least four people ran to the side of the airstrip and began vomiting. I felt pretty bad, but managed to settle down after a few deep breaths. We got back on the plane, climbed up to an altitude where the air was smooth and the rest of the flight to UB was very uneventful!
