Gobi projectOndershil, Gobi The Gobi desert is a land of extremes with temperatures reaching +40°C in summer and -50°C in winter. Asral NGO’s work in the Gobi focuses on Ondershil in Dondgobi Aimag. Ondershil is a very remote settlement in the Gobi. Again there is no work here for the settled people who rely on the support of relatives who are herders with sheep, goats and camels. In recent year the almost complete lack of rain has made life even more difficult. Asral works with the local Governor and his committee and has been assisting here for many years in the following ways:
Training in felting and spinning for women
Daily hot meals for school children, warm clothing and school books including text books
Provisions of gers, food, and warm clothes
Support for the local school and kindergarten including grant aid for an English department
Sponsoring for further education
Support for the local hospital including grant aid for a maternity extension
Women bringing in water for the hot meals and felting projects: there is no running water in Ondershil. Water has to be bought and then transported from the local well. The cost of water for cooking and washing adds an extra strain on family’s finances.
Handicrafts project – felt & camel wool
The aim is to provide women with an easily accessible and sustainable source of income.
Mongolian women – and occasionally men - learn traditional felt-making and knitting techniques. This provides women, with both an invaluable skill and an immediate income from the products they produce. Many of these women are heads of households, the income they generate through handicrafts is essential in helping to sustain their families.
Making camel wool socks: cleaning the wool, spinning and knitting. Camel wool is prized in Mongolia for its warmth and softness.
Women continue to receive support and advice after the initial training period. Some make products at the Asral center; others work from home enabling them to combine making a much needed income with fulfilling their household responsibilities.
In 2007, we set up a non-profit making business called MIM (Made In Mongolia) (www.madeinmongolia.net) which will provide a financial self-sufficiency for all Asral projects and more self-sustaining work for the people. MIM is already a success, and has received a large order for the felt products from Avoca, Ireland.
(http://www.madeinmongolia.net/products.html)
Supporting the poorest children
A daily hot nutritious meal is provided to 23 children from very poor families. Asral also provides warm clothing, school uniforms, text books, stationary and other supplies for children of the poorest families.
Asral organises and encourages extra-curricular activities. In the summer Asral has organised picnics and games for the children in Ondershil. Some of the local teachers have volunteered to give singing and dancing, and extra English classes to the children attending Asral’s hot meals project (left).
Ondershil has received very little rain in past years, forcing herder families to move further away from the small desert town. Asral supports the children of herder families who attend school in Ondershil.
Providing housing
Gers have been provided to the poorest families including to one handicapped lady. Where needed furniture, bedding and stoves are also provided. This ger was given to a young family. The woman also works on the handicraft project in order to support her family.
Helping improve rural infrastructure
Mongolia has very little infrastructure in the countryside. Asral has been working with the local hospital and schools to help the very active local doctor and director of the hospital, and school principal put their ideas into action.
The hospital
Asral donated a new maternity ward to the hospital in Ondershil in the Gobi. Ondershil is 200km, a bumpy 3 hour journey from the nearest main town with a slightly larger hospital. A maternity ward for such isolated communities is essential especially during the winter months. Photo: Panchen Otrul Rinpoche with the hospital doctor and nurses outside the new maternity ward.
Asral has also sponsored those in need of treatment and supported people needing to receive specialised treatment in Ulaanbaatar.
Rehabilitation material donated by Asral now makes the hospital in Ondershil uniquely equipped in the area.
The school
The English class at Ondershil school was provided with books and all the equipment to create a language lab. Soon after this, the English teacher won a prize for the best teaching methods in the school. She says “before it was difficult to teach but now the children really enjoy learning English”.
Asral has set up an exchange between the school in Ondershil and a school in Ireland. Below is a picture of the School Principal with pictures and letters from Ireland.
The Kindergarten
Asral has sponsored a young woman from Ondershil to train as a nursery and primary school teacher at University in Ulaanbaatar.
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