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.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

An Ode to Mongolia: Summer Labor Camp, Түмэн Од Хөдөпмөр Зуслан

As a part of CYD training, I was forced to attend Summer Labor Camp out into the khodoo (near Erdenet – the 2nd largest city in the providence or aimag of Bulgan, population 75,100) for three days and three nights. Fortunately, this was not my first trip to the khodoo and I had already been made familiar with the rituals of ger visitation (and airag drinking). To commemorate my second trip to the khodoo, I rewrote the chorus to a beloved American song to fit my new home:

Dirt road, take me home
To the place, I belong
Mongolia, khodoo mama
Take me home
Dirt road

Camp activities included daily water fletching from the river 100 yards from site, chopping wood into thin pieces, help cook three meals a day for a group thirty-four 12-14 year olds and twenty adults using just a wood stove, picking wild strawberries, a two-hour long scavenger hunt, horseback riding, building 12-foot bonfires, and playing soccer and basketball (the number of American pro jerseys I saw would have been enough to compile a professional basketball team of their own).





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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