Peace Corps: Riding Camels & Living in Gers in Outer Mongolia: April 2007

History of the Peace Corps Program in Mongolia

Peace Corps began its program in Mongolia in 1991, the same year the US Embassy opened in Ulaanbaatar, the nation’s capital city. Since then, over 600 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in Mongolia as English language teachers trainers, English teachers, community economic developers, environmental educators, and health educators. I will be a member of the 18th group of Volunteers to serve in Mongolia and the 3rd group of Community Youth Development Volunteers (the 1st CYD Trainees came to Mongolia in June of 2005).

Country Assignment

Country: Mongolia (Outter)
Program: Youth Development
Job Title: Life Skills Trainer (also: English teacher, Child Caretaker, Fund Raiser, Events Organizer, and IT Trainer)
Orientation (Staging in Atlanta, GA): May 31-June 2, 2007
Pre-Service Training (in Darkhan and Sukhbaatar, Mongolia): June 3-August 18, 2007
Dates of Service (in Darkhan at Sun Children formerly "Asian Child Foundation" - a non-profit, non-government Japanese funded orphanage of 37 Mongolian children opened since 8/25/2005): August 19, 2007- August 18, 2009

Location and Nature of the Job

CYD Volunteers are placed in provincial centers with population between 15,000 and 70,000. A few CYD Volunteers are placed in Ulaanbaatar, where the population is reaching 1 million. I will work with youth-focused NGOs, children’s centers, schools, and civil society organizations to address major challenges confronting Mongolian youth today, such as education, life skills, employability, and leadership. In addition, the work will involve workshops and presentations at schools and community agencies and will entail traveling to other outlying communities that have less access to information and training. Given the vast distances in Mongolia, these visits will often require overnight stays.

Friday, April 20, 2007

"Are you excited?" "It hasn't hit me yet"

It will be five weeks come Monday till I arrive in the land of Genghis Khan. I am asked the same question when I inform others of my upcoming destination, “are you excited?” I give them the same answer I have been since I received my official country invitation to join the Peace Corps in Mongolia late February, “it hasn’t hit me yet.” And it still hasn’t. Not the increasing gap in time to departure, not when I was shopping at REI for winter sleeping bags, and not even when I knew I was saying “goodbye" for the next two and a half years to my love ones. I just hasn’t hit me yet.

Contact Information/Time Difference

My number: 011-976-957-423-48. It is much
easier for you in the States to call me in Mongolia; the rates from US-Mongolia are cheaper, it is hard to find good calling cards from Mongolia-US. Also, it is free for me when you call and does not cost me additional minutes. Hope to hear from you soon.

See “International Calling Card” link under “Informational Links” for a calling card rate of $0.32 per minute to call from the US to Mongolia. Skype download is free and requires a DSL connection and a headset with a mic; the cost to call anywhere in the world is $0.02. My Skype account is: Yoomie.Huynh. Note: time in Mongolia is 12 hours later than Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Care Package: Wanted Items While in Mongolia

Mongolia Facts

Area: 1,566,000 sq km (610,740 sq mi) Population: 2.7 million Capital: Ulaanbaatar (Ulan Bator) 691,000 People: Khalkha Mongols (86%), Kazaks (6%), Chinese (2%), Russian (2%), about a dozen other ethnic groups. Languages: Mongolian, 90%; also Turkic, Russian, and Chinese Religions: Tibetan Buddhism, Muslim, Shamanism Government: Parliamentary with a president elected every 4 years President: Natsagiin Bagabandi Prime Minister: Nambariin Enkhbayar Economy: Traditionally based on agriculture, livestock breeding (camels, bovine, goats, horses and sheep); mining (coal, copper). Independence: 11 July 1921 (from China) Currency: Tugrik (1111 Tg= US$1) (March, 2003) Inflation: 11.8% (2000 est.). GDP per Capita: $1,770 (2001 est.) Unemployment: 20% (2000).