Burengiin Nuruu Mountain Range

Burengiin Nuruu Mountain Range

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.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

To quit or not to quit? That is the question.

Happy Holidays from the land of the bluest skies. It's those blue skies that bamboozle me into thinking the day is warmer than it really is. A recap. China in October was hectic trying to visit 9 cities in 21 days but it was a memorable experience; the culture, the food, the atmosphere from cities to villages. The only city I didn't care too
much for was Shanghai. I found it dirty and boring, although, it did have the best-bootlegged DVDs that I've encounter. I saw "Millers Crossing", "Johnny Basso", and "The 7th Seal" among other classics. I got back to UB to watch the elections at an open house for Americans hosted by the US Embassy. That election left me speechless still does.
After, I found out that I had to fly to Bangkok for a medical procedure that turned into two procedures and extended my stay for 12 days. I left four days before the "sit-in" protest happened at the airport. The extension may had something to do with major travel mishaps such as losing my plane ticket and having to fly directly back to Beijing from UB as the plane was about to touch down because of "smog." By the time I returned to Mongolia, it had been 7 weeks since I had last been at my site. Odd how I felt sitting in 95F degree weather in Bangkok wishing to return to Mongolia (and the cold). Everything turned out fine after the procedures but it was a potentially serious issue.

I returned back to site only to fall into the same hostile work environment sustained by my authoritative director. Mongolian directors have excessively much power here and get drunk on it. I decided that after 7 weeks away from site with 2 of that in the hospital, I wasn't about to come back and be yelled at like an irresponsible 17-year-old, so I called Peace Corps and asked if I could quit my agency and not have to Early Terminate. Despite the immense love for my children and co-workers, my director's micro management and overbearing presence has become intolerable. And, just like typical Peace Corps they wanted to have meetings and "discuss the options" and be diplomatic. After three weeks, we are still "discussing" it. Its bullshit. She has the choice to fire me at anytime. Federal law states that when en employee is in a hostile work environment, they have the option to switch departments within the company without quitting. I should be able to keep my federal rights as a citizen even after crossing country borders since I am still working for an American agency and a federal one at that. Sadly, the realization that I am not an employee but a volunteer, subject to one and one decision only, the decision to quit or not to quit, nothing more. So, after three meetings, one proposal and an agreement later, I am at that point, should I or should I not quit early? Advice on the situation if you were me?

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Recommended Books on Mongolia

  • “Dateline: An American Journalist in Nomad’s Land” by Michael Kohn, 2006.
  • "Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford, 2004.
  • “Riding Windhorses” by Sarangerel, 2000.
  • “Twentieth Century Mongolia” by Baabar, 1999.

Recommended Mongolian Movies

  • The Story of the Weeping Camel (2004), Die Geschichte vom Weinenden Kamel
  • Mongolian Ping Pong (2005), Lü cao di