Questions from the Bi-Yearly Peace Corps Progress Report Questionnaire

1. Please describe your biggest challenge during the past six months.
   

   One of my biggest challenges was trying to implement the Peace Corps' primary goal of Capacity Building through trainings for CPs; it was like pulling teeth. As a non-profit that worked with vulnerable children that receives its funding through monetary and material donations from foreign organizations, it seemed to me that if a project idea did not have an immediate end result of a physical gain (i.e. money or material goods), then they were not interested in the training. Learning a new skills set (i.e. learning English or how to start up a small business), in which the end result was applying the new skill on your own, had no takers at this HCA. Maybe the reason lay in the type of agency or because of their lack of exposure to training and its benefits (as compared to a formal school where trainings are setup by the local Education Center) that was the cause of their lack interest.
   

   Secondly, I did not really having a counterpart to work side by side with on projects. My only English-speaking CP, like most of my CPs, had a totally different job responsibility and work schedule than myself. My CPs are orphanage caretakers that worked a full day schedule plus a rotated a two overnight stay per week at the orphanage Mon-Sat while I worked a 9am-5pm workweek Mon-Fri. Thus, it was hard to coordinate time to work on projects together. She was merely my glorified translator.
   

2. Over the past six months what have you done, or what ideas have you generated, to promote a better understanding of Mongolians on the part of Americans, both during and upon completion of your service? (Peace Corps' Goal 3)
   

   I hope my daily interaction with my CPs and children have caused them to understand not only me but also my Western mindset and my "American" ways of approaching projects (e.g. potluck community meetings in my home, researching information through the internet, networking through meeting new people through people you already know) and teaching/training methods. Socially, I have invited my CPs over to my home for dinners and conversation (broken Mongolian combines with hand gestures and animated facial expressions goes a long ways). I have found that the key to quickly getting projects accomplished and ideas across is if you first build a personal connection with the people you are trying to work with.
   

3. If you left Peace Corps tomorrow, what would you miss most about living and working in Mongolia?
   

   I would miss the ancient monasteries and the landscape; being struck in awe at the magnificent of beauty in the rock formations, the endless blue sky, the rolling hills, the high mountains, the winding rivers, and the peacefulness of it all. Mongolia is so unique in its nomadic (aka: simple) way of living; I would miss that also. And I would miss my children dearly.
   

   What I wouldn't miss is the daily smell of urine in my stairwell, the backup pipes in my poorly made Russian building that gives off a putrid smell, the careless littering combined with lack of an organized government trash pickup system, and the very, very packed meekers in an 8+ hour dirt road trip.
   

Agency's Participation in Global Youth Service Day 2008: Youth Sports Tournment Weekend (Darkhan Community)

Global Youth Service Day

Organization
Sun Children (formerly, “Asian Child Foundation”)

Description
The orphanage was in desperate need of a fitness facility. The only thing it already had was an old basketball court with broken hoops and an empty backyard. Not so much as an inflated ball. The youth expressed this need to the Agency’s staff members back in September 2007. Sports instill a sense of camaraderie and self esteem. It transcends the cultural, language, and age barriers that inhibit communication. Prior knowledge of the rules of the game are not need to play and participate, one only has to observe. In addition, sports and fitness advertises a healthy body image. Thus, we, as an Agency, felt this idea was an excellent one. With the help of the United States Marine Humanitarian Civil Action program in conjunction with the US Embassy in Mongolia and the 330th Mongolian Army (based in Darkhan), the orphanage received financial and labor assistance to renovate the existing basketball court, build a volleyball court, and soccer goals; the funding for materials and the purchase of the materials took place in October 2007, while the building of the sports field was in late November 2007. Continuing with their goal, the youth gutted out an unused second kitchen in one of the three buildings on the orphanage compound to build a fitness room/gym; the planning and labor of this phase took place in December 2007.

For the third and final phase of our project, youth will host a “Sports Tournament” weekend during GYSD on the weekend of April 26-27, 2008. Between the months of February to April, youth will assist in the planning of this day that will include have meetings to determine additional subjects/topics for classes/presentations during GYSD, make invitation flyers to pass out to their fellow classmates (in their respective schools in the community), speak to local area business for support and donations (i.e. refreshments, tournament prizes, additional community member volunteers), and advise the GYSD event (e.g. making a radio advisement announcement). The already determined classes/presentations are:


• Trafficking in Persons (TIP) in Mongolia
• Environmental Conservation (pollution base; air pollution and littering)
• Fitness/Healthy Exercises
• Art and crafts projects; uses of recyclable items (i.e. plastic bottles, bottle caps, shards of broken glass, aluminum cans, cardboard boxes)

We anticipate 37 additional children from the community in addition to our youths making the total amount of participants to 74 youth ages 11-18 and 18 older youth and adult volunteers. The above listed classes/presentation topics will be given by 6 of these older youth and adult volunteers. Leading up to the weekend of GYSD, youth will participate in all areas of preparation including the setup of rooms for classes/presentations, food preparations, and opening and closing ceremonies.

Date/Time
April 26, 2008 at 11am-5pm

Location
Sun Children's Orphanage
Darkhan (New), Mongolia
Mongolia

RSVP Information
Name: Yoomie Huynh
Phone: + (976) 957-423-48
E-mail: yoomiehuynh@gmail.com

1st Project at Site: Building of a Sports Field Through the US Marines Humanitarian Civil Action Program

Excerpt from the US Marines Humanitarian Civil Action Program grant proposal:

OBJECTIVE
To provide the children at the Asian Child Foundation orphanage in Darkhan with a sports field where they can occupy their time with play. Such play is the foundation for exercise and fitness as well as overall enjoyment. We propose to renovate the old existing basketball court with the installment of new basketball hoops and nets. In addition, we would like to build a sports field in the open grass area behind the orphanage. This sports field will include a volleyball court, a soccer field, and playground equipment (paralegal bars, a swing set, and a slide).

The success and completion of this project will require the physical cooperation of all 35 children, staff members, and the 330th Army. It is a project that only a community can complete, thus, in addition to providing the children an area where they can play, this project will provide the 330th Army an opportunity to interact with the some of the children that live in the community of Darkhan.

Pictures from the Welcoming Ceremony in late November

The First Few Weeks At Site

The first few weeks at site were crazy. However, I was happy to finally be done with the 12 weeks of training and get to the heart of why I'm in Mongolia. Aside from the heticness of settling-in and getting adjusted, the orphanage got some visitors from Japan my first couple of weeks at site.

In my first week, 7 Japanese volunteers and 7 Mongolian volunteers arriving from a non-profit from UB for three days to help paint the orphanage buildings and repair the hashaa fence.

In my second week, we received a visit of Japanese investors (this orphanage was started and funded by foreign investors). The visit was a success and they signed a contact with my agency regarding funding for the orphanage (with funding specifically going to employee salaries and food and clothing for the children).

The third week was hectic trying to write a project/grant proposal for the US Marines Humanitarian Civil Action Program for a sports field to be built in the backyard of the orphanage. We busted our asses to get the proposal done in time. The US Embassy provided the funding to buy the materials and the 330th Mongolian Army will perform the labor. Seeing the project from start to completion was a bit frustrating at times; it is sometimes difficult trying to get things done on the project level here. However, apparently, it’s a fairly common phenomenon in Peace Corps worldwide. PC is fairly structure in procedures and progress reports but since PC is only half of the operation - the other half being the Host Country Agency - the productiveness lies in the hands of the HCA and not the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) most of the time. Luckily for me, I have a hard working Director that is on top of her game and everyone else's for that matter. I really lucked out on the pick for HCA.

Rewind and Review: Host Agency Description

I apologize for the lengthy disappearance. The first few weeks at site was very busy, adjusting and settling-in. Then just when the hecticness died down, my laptop caught a nasty virus from a flash drive and preceded to take over all my programs and Windows operating system. I was in a state of near hysterics at this point; broken laptop is one thing but broken laptop in Mongolia when you speak Mongolian badly is a totally scary place to be. After six weeks and some bribing, happy to report that the laptop is up and running and, thus, resumes the blog postings (and pictures). Let me backtrack and rewind:

After swearing-in mid-August, I was sited to Darkhan, my Site Community (2nd largest city in Mongolia; there are only three cities) and assigned to the Asian Child Foundation, my Host Agency (www.happychild.mn only the Mongolian portion is up and running; the English version is still in the works via me). The ACF was founded in August 2005 and operates four programs, two in which I am directly involved with. The 1st is an orphanage that houses 35 children ages 7-19 years old. The hashaa compound (fenced-in area) consists of three buildings, two being the living quarters and the third the arts/language school where traditional Mongolian song and dance, Japanese, and English are taught. Here, I am an English teacher. I am also a child psychologist; I work alongside two other child psychologists. There is also big garden where the children grow their own vegetables, an outhouse, a hashaa dog and dog house, and a basketball court. Soon there will be a sports field (soccer filed, volleyball court, handle bars and swing area); an approved project/grant proposal (written by me within the first three weeks at site; an act of dumb luck, an opportunity taken at the right moment) in conjunction with the US Marines/US Embassy. The materials were brought with US Embassy money and labor provided by the 330rd Mongolian Army.

The 2nd program is the Kindergarten Program. This program provides funding for venerable 60 children ages 1-6 years old to attend the best kindergarten school in Darkhan. In addition to the tradition kindergarten programs that we have in the States, Mongolian kindergarten also acts as nursery; the children are schooled and housed there Monday-Fridays during the day and overnight as well and then are returned to their caretakers on the weekends. These children come from single parent families or families that are in hard financial and extreme living restrains.

That's currently my job, my care and for the first time, I have a job
in which I truly feel satisfied. Below are pictures of my kids from the orphanage.