Children's Rehabilitation Center Open House

We worked with Deseret International Charities to acquire rehabilitation equipment.  The building and room they were originally in was too small for all the new items. The Director found a new location with two large rooms. One room for the children to learn and play in and the other room was for the rehab center.  We were invited to attend.  When we arrived the City Manager was there, the Director of Handicapped Children from the government's Social Services Division and many of the mothers with special needs kids some of which we met at the children's camp this summer. Erdene Chuluun, the Director Teacher from Sun Child School where we teach, also attended. They were told the Capital Ulaanbaatar does not have the facilities for special needs kids as this rehab offers.

 Altenchimeg, center, is a retired nurse and, now a licensed massage therapist, does all this volunteer work for these children.
Boya, on my right, is a member of the Church, attends school in Japan and interpreted for us this week. She is Mongolian and is fluent in English and Japanese. What a great job she did while our regular interpreter was out of town.

After a tour and describing all the equipment and how it is used, the City Manager promised to get funding for the teachers, to enlarge the building and hire additional staff to accommodate more  Darkhan special needs children.







 This is Meggie. We met her at camp this summer and helped give massage and physical therapy to her. She had a few seizures when younger. In Mongolia they do a spinal tap on each person with seizures. Many end up paralyzed or with other physical damage. Meggie was losing strength and capability on the left side. She could hardly squeeze our hand and her left leg was getting weak too. We taught her a number of muscle building exercises while at camp for the week and made her promise to do them every day, multiple times a day, at home. That evening she gripped our hand and showed us how she could stand on her left leg. This was the best part of the evening.









They surprised us with this plaque. Many kind words were offered. They even had the local TV station tape the event and interview us. Refreshments followed. The lady, between Debbie and I is a Doctor that volunteers her time to give the kids regular checkups and oversees some of their care.





 

We were so pleased to hear from the City Manager that they would be adding additional teachers. The classroom is definitely under staffed. It is physically demanding on the teachers.

We are so grateful for all those who came out to support these children. Many have worked so hard to try and help meet the needs of these precious kids. 

It was a wonderful evening!!

Climbing Mt. New York on Sept 11th (US time) Darkhan, Mongolia

This is about the tallest mountain around Darkhan and they call it Mt. New York.  Funny!  We enjoyed the 4 mile hike to the mountain and a pretty good climb. The view was great! The weather was beautiful and a strong wind.

We're going there! :)

 

We had some guests waiting for us near the top.

 

The City of New Darkhan is on the left and just past that is the City of Old Darkhan. To the right and behind my head is the Ger District. As you can see they placed it far from the city area to keep the smog down from each Ger heating with coal and wood and lots of smoke.  In UB the city is surrounded by Gers right up to the city. Ulaanbaatar (UB) is one of the most polluted cities in the world. In the winter there are times you cannot see a stop light 50 feet away.

 

 

Just in Time for the First Day of School!

Today was the first day of school for all of Mongolia. School 15 was the recipient of some brand new equipment for one of their classes. The project was finished just in time.  We have been working on this for about 5 months.  This is a public school, but one class is for homeless kids which the city does not support.  The Director at Sun Child School where we teach asked the city for a room for these kids and she helps pay the cost for teachers, materials, food, etc. through fund raising projects. Many times as we arrive to teach, we smell delicious rolls baking in the kitchen, and find out that they are to raise funds either for the kindergarten or maybe for the graduates from Sun Child who are attending college.  Other people also help to cover the cost of the kindergarten.


Each Monday they pick up the homeless kids or those that are extremely poor.  They bring them to the school, bathe them, wash their clothes, feed them and teach them. The teachers there are really committed and do amazing work. They sleep there for the week too, but on Friday they are required to take them back to where they came from.


The kindergarten needed a cabinet for the children to put clothes, coats, shoes, etc.  They also needed new bedding (stuffed mattress pads and blankets), new tables and chairs for the 36 kids they are allowed to care for.  We worked with Deseret International Charities and were able to have a local manufacturer make the bedding and blankets with camel hair and wool.  A local carpenter made the closets, 6 tables and 36 chairs.  We got everything delivered and in place last Friday.  .


We were so happy to see this in place before the new school year started. We hope to see the kids later this week enjoying the new surroundings. You see the example of the bedding but when the kids are ready for bed there are 36 sets on that floor.