Help for those with Special Needs

This summer we visited a camp for handicapped children. In Mongolia they are called "Handicapped", or "Disabled", so forgive us if we do not use the term "Special Needs." They have 200-300 kids per week for 7 day camps. It is a large camp with many wonderful children and dedicated staff members.  The President (Mayor) of Darkhan drove us out there along with our Interpreter Nyamod and her mother.  Nyamod's sister is handicapped and loved the camp. We met so many wonderful kids that just surrounded us and wanted to meet Americans. Since then we have been trying to help where we can.  We spoke with the Camp Director and made arrangements to spend a week there next Summer as Volunteers.
This past week we were invited to tour a new Kindergarten Day Care Center that will be taking in handicapped children for the first time.  They wanted us to make recommendations on how to make the facility "accessible" and what toys they would need.  We made a number of suggestions regarding ramps, removing large thresholds in doorways, handicapped toilets with hand rails and replacing pedestal sinks with wall mountings to allow wheelchair access.  The first of the handicapped kids will be arriving this week so we will go back in the next day or two to make recommendations for toys best suited for them. Since Debbie has experience working in a "Life Skills" class with autistic children, she provided additional ideas for teaching the kids skills that relieve many burdens for parents and providing some independence for the kids. 

 Friday we attended the citywide "Handicap Awareness" event.  We presented 5 kids with backpacks with school supplies inside.  The largest TV station in Mongolia from UB (the Capital) interviewed us. It was funny how so many people wanted a picture taken with us and were pleased to see Americans helping these kids. The lady in the middle with glasses is the Director of the Summer Camp.  The lady next to me is one of the government leaders that want to meet with Debbie and I. The lady second from the left is Nyamod's mother and the little girl is Nyamod's sister--a real sweetheart. Nyamod's mom is an amazing woman. She is so connected in many ways in support of the handicap and those less fortunate.  She has so little in the way of material things, but is constantly giving. She is such an example to us!

 The gentleman on the left works at the Summer Camp and these are his children. We met him there and became friends.










This is Nymkaa. He is a very special child we met at a fund raising event about a week before. Debbie was so kind to him, he asked his mother to give Debbie one of the items they had for sale. He is a very loving and giving child. His mother is such a patient and sweet lady as well. He wants us to come and visit him in his home. We understand he does not get out very much.
The City President, I mentioned earlier, met with us and was the keynote speaker. He announced the city was making a large amount of funds available for the kids' summer camp.  We also met two high ranking Government employees that head the departments that support handicapped organizations. This is all new to them.  The handicapped have basically been ignored until recently, so that day was an exciting day to see so many in support of this great cause!!! They want to set up meetings with Debbie and I to discuss how government supports the handicapped in the United States??  Also, what regulations there are in support of them, how to make them more employable and how to get employers to consider them? We are excited and humbled about how we might be able to make a difference.
A big part of helping those with special needs is to help their families. The mothers of these children basically cannot work because they have to stay home with their special needs child so it puts a huge financial burden on the family. Well, there are organizations here that teach skills/crafts to the parents and supply them with the materials. They in turn make items to sell and the organization markets them and the money goes to the family.

They had jugglers, dancers, contortionists, and acrobats from UB. This large group is mostly kids that attended the camp and they did a great job dancing in unison.










In Old Darkhan the Ger District is on the other side of busy railroad tracks. The short cut into the center of Old Darkhan is across the tracks.  The 15 year old son was taking his younger brother to the hospital and was hit by a train and killed.  The father worked with the city leaders and was instrumental in getting an underground tunnel built to provide safe passage. The tunnel is named after his son.  He is now in the process of raising funds to build a clinic closer to the Ger District in memoriam of his son.  He was in the booth next to us.

A Great Week!

This has been a great week. We were assigned three families in the Old Darkhan Branch to Home Teach.  All three were inactive. We also met with one family that recently lost two daughters within two weeks.  They had a Buddhist funeral for them even though the mother, and a few others are members. One of the daughters age 49 was fighting cancer for 3 years,  The other daughter was 34. She had a couple of abscessed teeth and would not get them taken care of due to cost.  The infection spread to the rest of the body and took her life. 

This past Sunday three of the four families attended church.

The fourth family consists of the parents and four children.  The father and two boys joined the church four years ago and are now inactive.  The one son and one daughter were too young for baptism. The wife was not interested.  The father is in remission after fighting cancer the past 3 years.  He was unemployed. We told him we would help him find a job.  He said he wanted to work as a security guard. On our second meeting with them the wife felt the spirit and agreed to take the discussions. We had Family Home Evening with this family on Monday where we taught the second discussion on the Plan of Salvation. We set up an appointment for the father to come to our apartment to get a white shirt, tie and black pants to go to the employment office.  They set up an immediate interview for him. We took him to a hospital where he was interviewed and was asked who we were and why we were with him. He said they are leaders in his church and were helping him find a job. He asked which church which opened up a good conversation. 

We talked about the Word of Wisdom and that this good Brother does not drink or smoke. (Alcoholism is a major problem here among men.)  He was offered the job as a Security Guard on the spot and was asked if his wife worked. He said yes as a cleaning lady.  The man offered to hire her too at twice what she is making now.  So they will be making $18 a day between the two of them instead of living on the $3 a day that the wife was bringing home!! We know that prayers are being answered.

Today we are meeting with two sisters that are handicapped to find them some nice clothes to wear for interviews at the Employment office on Monday. They come from a very poor and multiple handicapped family. It's a very sad situation.  We hope to be successful in getting them jobs that will greatly impact this families situation. Right now the whole family walks everyday all over the city collecting plastic and glass bottles for money. They average about $1
.60 a day for the bottles they collect.  We are working on some short term solutions to their situation, but the jobs is the goal for long term. We are praying they will have the same success as the other family. As tough as their situation is they are always smiling.

Peace Corps Volunteers

Our son Daniel and his wife Mary served a two year Peace Corps Mission in Guinea West Africa a few years back.  When they heard we were going to Mongolia on our mission for the Church they asked us to keep an eye out for any Peace Corps volunteers serving here.  We met two of them, Kate and Aaron, and invited them for dinner.  They are really nice and we enjoyed our conversation.  We thought they would be in better living conditions than Dan and Mary so we didn't feel too sorry for them.  We had a dinner with one of Debbie's great salads and French bread, grilled salmon with homemade hollandaise sauce, rice pilaf, carrots, broccoli and a brownie with Russian ice cream and chocolate chips. Afterwards they said it was the best meal they have had in Mongolia.  We then found out they are in an unfurnished apartment with no stove, refrigerator, microwave or much to make a meal with.  They said the Peace Corps is working on getting them something.  They eat at restaurants a lot and not many of them are good.  The food served here is very bad to mediocre.

Anyway, it was fun having them over.  They have a different role that most English teachers here.  They both have degrees in English and Education Leadership, so they are here assigned to schools to teach teachers how to teach English.  They teach them different techniques and styles.  Most Asian teachers only teach grammar because they don't speak English.  The students we have met that have had years of English education cannot speak any of it.  We are so surprised that they don't even know the alphabet. 

Teaching at Sun Child Orphanage

These are our kids. The girls dorm, kitchen and dining room are in this building. 

 

 

 

These kids are great.  They are so talented and eager to learn.  Our classes are from 10:00am to 11:00am and 11:30am to 12:30pm four days a week.  We usually arrive by 9:30am to set up the classroom and get our materials ready. The kids are usually already there waiting for us to arrive, prepared and excited to learn English.  They stay late and ask for help individually.  It's a great way to start the day! Starting this month we will be teaching each class twice a week!

 

Every morning they get a slice of bread with or without sugar and a cup of tea.  Every day for lunch they get a bowl of soup with either rice or noodles, grisly mutton and potatoes, maybe carrots when in season.  We have not seen what they eat for dinner. 

 

Anyway, we love it here and we love the people. Even in such poor circumstances every home we enter we are offered food, hot water or hot watered down milk.  It is very humbling and we count our blessings every day.

 

We are so very thankful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church to help us apply His teachings to love thy neighbor, wherever they are.

  

The main office and boys dorm. 










 

This building is used for dress rehearsals/performances, the art room and sewing room.
 

 

This is the rehearsal/performance room. They cover the mirrors when they are doing a performance.

 

The second floor has an art room and a sewing room where all of their costumes are made.

This building includes the dance/contortionist training area and the computer room on the main floor.

 The second floor incudes the instrument class rooms and our English class room.

 

Our little classroom is on the second floor of this building. We have four classes with 9 to 11 students in each class.

Another First Tonight

We have been stacking up the "firsts" since we arrived.  Tonight brought another one, Liver Meatloaf. As my Dad would say, "That was different!  More than a few other firsts includes; being in Mongolia, Debbie and I sleeping in bunk beds after 42 years, sleeping in a Ger with plenty of neighborhood bugs, eating goat milk cheese, eating goat milk yogurt candy with the most disgusting smell and taste, even worse is drinking horse milk fermented with yeast sitting in the sun all day called airag, drinking watered down raisin  juice, eating hoshers and boz, watching mothers nursing their babies anywhere and anytime, seeing a large amount of manholes with no covers, open construction trenches and holes with no guards, people walking all over, under, around and through construction sites, sweet potatoes that are a whitish yellow inside not red or orange, skinned carcasses being hauled around on wooden handcarts down the street, riding a camel, eating horse meat (which is very good by the way), teaching English classes, bearing our testimony in Mongolian, seeing maintenance men make a huge, dirty mess and we are expected to clean up after them, street sweepers using little brooms, having someone come in every other week to clean our apartment.  Well, there are more but that's enough for to night.  Our love to all.

Senior Missionary Trip 2013

On Wednesday morning, July 24th, we took a taxi to UB. We spent the afternoon meeting with other Senior couples to look for additional resources they had for teaching English. We also attended the Mission President Staff Meeting to report what we're accomplishing in Darkhan.  That evening we took one of the couples to dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant.   They have been very supportive to us. Thursday and Friday we spent touring with all the Senior Couples, wonderful, historical sites about 30 miles East of UB. 

We first stopped at the Ghenggis Khan Monument. It is an amazing site.  It is about 180 feet tall with a viewing platform on the horses head. There is an elevator and winding stairs up to the horse then out to the platform.
The small dark horse statures you can barely see on the left of the monument are four times the size of a regular horse. They are planning on having 10,000 of these statues on the site!!

On our way to the 12th Century National Park to see a herd of Yaks and a huge herd of horses being driven by cowboys, and they were boys.

 

 

 

 

                                                                         

Boys in Mongolia start to ride by the age of two. By six or so they are the jockeys in the Annual Naadam Festival we reported on earlier. Last year two boys were killed falling off the horses. This year at Naadam they were required to wear helmets for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a Golden Eagle I decided to have a close encounter with to discuss his hunting prowess.  If you haven't seen the video of  "Mongolian Golden Eagles Hunting Wolves" just Google those words. It is incredible! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was taken in the 12th Century National Park.  So much of their treasured past took place when Ghenggis Khan ruled over the Mongolian people.  He is revered today.

We are now in a monstrous Ger which was similar to Ghenggis Khan's Winter Palace.  Debbie and I decided to get comfortable in his chair and stay warm. We had lunch here with traditional Mongolian music, a tour of the grounds and heard lots of historical facts about him and his armies of 10,000 men that conquered most of what is now Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

 

 

 

 

While driving through the countryside we came across a white camel. It reminded Debbie that she wanted to ride a camel again. Notice the size of the camels humps here. They are much larger than the ones we rode at the Naadam Festival.








These are Southern Mongolian Camels where it is much warmer and very dry.  They store many gallons of water in the humps. 

Debbie also had to ride a horse through the beautiful mountains we were in.  I decided my back didn't need to take the punishment.









At another Ghenggis Khan encampment was the Education Camp where the children went to school. One of the things they were taught was old Mongolian script. A current teacher demonstrated the technique and then invited us to write something she would write in script.  The one on the left is the Fredley name.  The one on the right says "Love at Home". A couple of others had love at home too and the script matched perfectly. It almost seems like it was copied in a machine.  Another camp we visited was for the Craftsman that made wheels, wagons, swords, spears, chainmail and other armor.

 

The batteries in our camera died (they were brand new) so we didn't get to take as many pictures as we wanted to. It was a wonderful trip. We slept in a Ger in the Torelj National Park the final night of our trip. The ger experience is something that everyone who visits Mongolia needs to try. It was fairly comfortable except for the rice-filled pillows. The pillows were noisy as well! There is a small wood-burning stove in each ger to keep you warm. The food we had at this camp were some of the best since we've been here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Child Orphanage Performance

Yesterday we went to meet with our Sponsor that signed the papers to allow us to get into Mongolia. She runs the orphanage where we will teach English the next two years.  We met briefly with her a couple of weeks ago but she and 20 of the 40 children in the orphanage were leaving the next day for Japan.  This is the 13th year they have taken a group there performing Mongolian songs, dances, music and contortions.  We called on Monday to set an appointment to discuss when we will begin teaching. We will start August 1st teaching four classes of ten children.



When we got there she had the kids perform the one and a half hour program for us. It was wonderful. She then announced that the Japanese Agency that  invites them each year to perform in 13 cities over two weeks has invited them to come twice a year. 








We took a lot of pictures are including so you get an idea of the variety of performances and costumes. They all take dancing lessons, art, music, sewing, cooking, gardening and on and on. They designed and sewed their own costumes. They are amazing!! We can't wait to teach them.