most of the population living below the poverty line in Mongolia are women and children
Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China. Mongolia’s economy and social structure collapsed after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, causing sudden and overwhelming levels of poverty.
Combined with devastating animal famines, over 30,000 people converged on the capital each year.
A vast shanty-town mushroomed around the capital. Three decades later, almost a third of the entire population is living below the poverty line.
The Mongol Empire was the second largest continuous land empire ever, stretching from Poland to the Korean peninsula. Mongolians are a hard-working, gracious and resilient people, with an amazing history and culture. Survival in sub-zero temperatures, especially for women and children, is a constant struggle.
“Rinpoche heard a small child crying in the shanty district. The child was alone, tied by a rope to a bed. When the mother returned, sometime after midnight, she explained that as a single mother, she had no choice but to leave her child alone while she worked. This is a common problem and inspired Rinpoche to launch the children’s sponsorship and hot meal project.”
sponsoring
a
child
for just
€14
a month
will
help
to realise their potential
Meet Munkhbold
He lives with his parents, brother and siblings in a small yard with two other families. His parents have no income during the winter months. They struggle with access to drinking water, sanitation, along with air pollution in sub-zero temperatures. Munkhbold helps by fetching water, taking care of his younger brother, Munkhd, who has had jaundice since he was an infant, leading to a stroke. Two in every five people struggling with poverty in Mongolia are children under the age of fifteen, like Munkhbold.
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