Gachuurt project

Gachuurt is a settlement on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, with a population of approximately 4,000 people.  There is again great poverty here and no employment for the people.  Asral works with the local governor and his committee in the following ways:
Training in vegetable growing
Provision of food, warm clothes and ger accommodation
Providing grant aid for a new roof and renovation of the local kindergarten
Setting up a ger kindergarten for the children of herders




Vegetable Growing project
Our aim is to provide people with the means to improve their diet and to support very poor families by providing them with vegetable growing skills and occasional emergency food supplies in winter.

At the Asral vegetable garden and training centre in Gachuurt, families are given the advice, materials and support necessary to cultivate vegetables; they also attend bottling, preserving and cooking demonstrations. Five people are included every year and provided with seeds, tools and plastic for a small tunnel. Currently thirty households are involved in our organic vegetable growing project.

People are able to grow crops of tomatoes and cucumbers, cabbages, potatoes, turnips, salad crops etc. Most people have a surplus, which they either sell to generate a much needed income, or store for the winter. All the families have a better diet; fruit and vegetables are extremely expensive to buy in Mongolia today.
(above photo label: Families learning how to grow vegetables from a professional gardener)

    
The soil in Gachuurt is very dry in summer,    Using a greenhouse helps make the most       A cooking demonstration in Gachuurt to
vegetables need a lot of care and attention.    of the short growing period in Mongolia –     to help people learn how prepare the
    families are taught how to build their own.     vegetables.

Support for Kindergartens


Kindergarten is where a Mongolian child receives his elementary education from the age of 3 or 4 years up to 8 years.The kindergarten at Gachuurt needed serious repairs. Refurnishing including a new kitchen, toilets and washing facilities, furniture and learning toys enabled 100 more children to attend.

Ger accommodation has also been provided for children living in rural areas too far away to come in daily. 256 children now attend the Gachuurt Kindergarten.



    
The kindergarten in Gachuurt was renovated with the help of a grant from CoDevelopment Ireland, one of the Irish Government's overseas aid programmes.

A ger kindergarten for herders’ children

 
A ger kindergarten (left) was set up near Gachuurt in order to provide primary education to the children of herders (right). The kindergarten is made up of three gers and accommodates 15 children in two shifts.