7 June 2009
We have been back in Bayankhonger for 24 hours. Saturday was spent driving back from Bogd early in the morning and then hanging about the hotel. We went for a walk during the afternoon and called in on an MED client who is a silversmith. He is renting a small room near to our hotel. He was working on some silver buttons, so we sat in his small workshop and watched him at work. It was fascinating, as I have not seen jewelry made by hand before. I spent the latter part of Saturday afternoon doing something I can never do at home – sleeping!
Today we slept in for a bit (Mongolians love a good lie in, and never get going early). At 10:30 we started out to visit some micro-finance clients in Bayankhonger town. We visited a family making cement bricks. Then we visited a couple with several skills. She makes beautiful clothing and he does carpentry work. She had a hot pink top and skirt on display that Alesia would adore (it was being made to order, or I would have brought it). He had carved a lovely horse and outfitted it with a complete miniature riding kit made of leather. This couple are also working with our food security project. About 70% of their yard was taken up with a big garden. They have potatoes and cabbage planted. They are also trying to grow tomato and cucumber seedlings in a sunny corner of the yard, and have a small plot of wheat in another sunny corner.
We next visited the Black Market to talk to a lady who makes steel products – stoves for gers, big pots, etc. She showed us some of the equipment she makes for ninja mining operations (illegal gold mining). This was followed by a visit to two ladies that are making and selling dairy products at the local food market. We tried three kinds of yoghurt (yak, goat and firm yogurt squares that were like eating a mild super smooth fetta. To get into the dairy market we had to walk through the meat market. I tend to avoid the meat markets in
The last stop was a self-help group of five tailors. They are one of our most successful groups. They have used their loans and income to rent a small place in the centre of town and buy commercial quality sewing machines. They are always busy sewing all kinds of clothes. Joakim purchased a Mongolian jacket for a friend and then spied some lovely grey woolen material. He commissioned a dell (traditional coat) made in this material. He was measured up and the dell will be delivered tomorrow morning before we leave for the airport. This monitoring visit has seemed like more of a shopping visit for Joakim, but he professes that he likes to inject his money into the local economy wherever he can so enjoys giving work to our micro-finance clients. I think I am planning to do more of this myself, perhaps commissioning something from the silversmith, and definitely getting some camel wool yarn.
I will be glad to get home to my own bed and some fresh fruit and vegetables. I always come home immensely grateful for the benefits I have. It is sobering to know when I visit our micro-finance clients that I am usually carrying in my wallet cash equivalent to their first loan or their entire savings. In addition my visa card gives me access to opportunities and services that many of these people can only dream about. That said, I am helpless in this environment while they are resilient, resourceful and know how to get the most out of this harsh place. I feel honored by the polite hospitality and genuine friendliness that I always experience when I travel here.
