Peace Corps: Riding Camels & Living in Gers in Outer Mongolia: Peace Corps Upate to Friends and Family

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.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Peace Corps Upate to Friends and Family

It certainly has been a long four months of medical examinations and paperwork, but it was all worth it. I received an official country invitation late February and will be departing for (Outer) Mongolia on June 2, 2007 to serve as a Life Skills Trainer for the Youth Development program until August 18, 2009 (a brief program description above). Aside from the concern of -40 degree Winters lasting eight months out of the year, I am excited at the prospect of riding camels, living in a ger (a 20-foot round tent with a wooden stove in the middle) and immersing in a whole new culture. Pre-service training will be in Darkhan for a week of orientation and Sukhbaatar for 10 weeks, living with a host family. After training, I will be placed in a provincial center population 15,000-70,000, (hopefully) living in my own ger.

Although I will have a cell phone (PC issues out a cell phone to their Mongolia volunteers – in the light of dust storms, frequent power surges, and frigid temperatures), my internet access will be very limited. Thus, I will be keeping a blog (http://yoomiehuynh-peacecorps.blogspot.com/). The blog also contains information regarding addition description of the PC program in Mongolia, Mongolian culture, travel to Mongolia/Asia and etc. You will be receiving an update email whenever there is a new blog post; please let me know if you wish not to receive update emails.

Although I don't depart until May 31, I will be traveling for a consecutive two months starting March 20 to: Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Orange County/Los Angles, CA; New York, NY; Miami, FL; Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. I'll be back in Washington, DC two weeks before my departure date. My travels before, during, and after my Service will be documented on a separate travel blog (http://yoomiehuynh-travels.blogspot.com/).

Here's to a new adventure, a new chapter, and memories to be shared over a campfire. Thank you for letting me share it with you.

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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).