My heart is forever moved…Bayarlaa…Thank you!

6/28/09

Despite its complexity, Mongolia is a special, sweet place. Chimge, my wonderful supervisor, co-worker and interpreter and I completed a 2-day training on grant writing, logic models, project planning and sustainability planning. The Center for Social Work Excellence, where I work had made up nice certificates for the people completing the training. Of course, they were in Mongolian and Chimge and I both signed them. Individual names were put on each one at the end of the training. I asked to have my name put on one, even though I signed all of them for me to have as a memento. Well, when I made that request our participants went to work to make it as nice for me a possible. They spent about 15 minutes figuring out how to write my name in Cyrillic script, and then went even further to write my name in Old Traditional Mongolian Script. They collaborated and worked very hard on it. Then when they gave it to me, they all clapped and were so grateful and joyful. My eyes were full of tears. It was such a gift and such an effort of appreciation and respect. I bowed to the group and many bowed back. It was a very special moment that I will never forget; and I will frame the certificate for my office. This was a precious moment in my journey of life.

About the training, it went very well. Chimge and I work really well together. We build on one another and have fun. Though I know this material very, very well and have taught it many times this training was a bit harder. We had set it up to have activities, where people develop and write plans, outcomes etc. Normally, I would move between groups and assist. Due to the language barrier I was not able to do this. Chimge did it very well and filled me in or gave me tips, though. Due to me not knowing the language I was limited in the activity part, but overall we still got an A evaluation from all but 2 of the participants who gave us a B.

My supervising professor arrived yesterday. He was coming from Beijing though he was diverted to Russia for several hours due to the intense wind in UB. He made it and Chimge, her son and daughter and another Brown School trained social worker Tuya (spelling?) and I had a delightful Indian dinner, compliments of Gautam Yadama. It was a real treat for me.

Today Chimge’s son, Tsengel, Gautam and I went to the large outdoor market here where things are cheap. I have wanted to go there, but have been told not to go alone or without a Mongolian. It was great fun. It is a lot of cheap stuff from China, but there are also traditional Mongolian items. I bought a great jacket. I love to explore and this is a great place to explore. I hope to go back again. I have posted a few pictures of the Mongolian clothing, though after these few shots it became clear they did not want me to take pictures, so I stopped.

Next onto another great Indian meal. Gautam is from India and has been working here for years. He found a great Indian restaurant in the hotel he stays at where we ate last night. We learned that the chef, who GY has known for years, opened a second location, so we ate there for lunch. Both times the food was great. Having a person from India, who knows the chef, and they can both speak Hindi is a guarantee for great food!

Tsengel is a delightful, bright engaging 18 year old who speaks English, due to living in St. Louis while his Mom, Chimge got her MSW at Brown School. He oriented me to UB on my second day here and we have done a couple things together. Being with him is really fun and I so appreciate all he does to help me out here.

Gautam and I spent time talking about my work, my schooling, future work together, etc. I so appreciate his counsel and advise. Not only does he help me with schooling, career directions etc, but also he has helped me learn about communicating across cultures more effectively. I respect him, enjoy him and am very grateful for all his help and support.

Over the next few days while he is here, we will be meeting with some of the many social workers and professionals he knows here to gather more information and data and to formulate the next steps in our work here in Mongolia. I know I will learn a lot and it will be great fun.

My life is very full here and I am tired. So off to an early night for me. I have more stories and photos to share, so I will add more soon. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Mongolia, Mongolia, Mongolia... so much to share!

6/22/09

Mongolia, Mongolia, Mongolia…so much to share

I am sorry for the delay in posting. I have been working very hard and having a lot of fun. First I will follow up on a question left open on my last post; when the Russians ran the place did they paint things? I once again asked my co-worker and told her I was serious. She said that the Russians painted about once every 10 years. I have never been in the Soviet Union, so I do not know if it has always been unkempt and run down or if that is a result of the fall of communism. If you know please let me know.

This Friday and Saturday I am delivering another training on grant writing and project planning. Once again, I am thankful I have both studied and taught this material. Training here is an adventure because of the translation and me not having a sense of what they already know. For the second time, please wish me well.

My supervising professor, Gautam Yadama arrives here in UB on Saturday and stays until Wednesday. He has worked here a lot, is the contact for Washington University for the Open Society Institute; a George Soros Foundation project, and has taught summer school here for social workers. It will be great to have him here and I am sure I will learn a lot. He is brilliant, driven, over committed and really supportive of students and me. I never quite know what to expect, but it is always interesting.

I think I mentioned earlier that we are working on a proposal to increase access to health services for disadvantaged groups in the ger districts here in UB. This proposal is for work to support a project in place funded by the Japan Poverty Reduction Fund channeled through the Asian Development Bank. Our work will be to do a situation analysis, household survey, and institutional assessment to develop a very clear picture of what is really happening for poor people in the ger districts related to health. Next, we will develop criteria for starting pilot projects to improve access to health services, and then monitor and evaluate these projects.

Mongolia and many countries around the world are trying to switch their health focus from a treatment model to more of a prevention, wellness, and primary care model. The primary care model is the preference of the World Health Organization and is being “pushed-supported” in many developing countries. Here it is a really good idea, but it is very different from the hospital based health care system utilized before. So the hurdles for effective implementation are large including the need to change cultural expectations and health behaviors and patterns.

Last week we went to visit a Family Group Practice (FGP) – primary health clinic in one of the targeted ger districts, the pink house in the pictures. I know I missed the meeting details due to the language barrier, but my co-workers filled me in. This FGP does a fabulous job with what they have to work with, but the same as my information on treating victims of sexual abuse there is not the money or infrastructure to do what they really want to do. They do not have adequate equipment and what they do have it is because this group solicits organizations for equipment, support, etc. Apparently this is not the norm. But even though I could not understand the meeting discussion I did learn a lot, just by observation.

I have walked through ger districts between my house and the largest monastery in the city – more on that to come in another post. But I have not really had the opportunity to grasp the details or lay of the land for those who live there. This visit gave me a much better sense of it all.

The ger districts surround the city, and last I checked over 49% of the population lives in these districts. They are made up of areas with wood houses and a fenced in area. Within the fenced area are gers, sometimes several. People who have more money have built houses, and then they allow relatives to put gers up in their yard, or they rent the space to others. I want to make it very clear that these districts are huge and they surround the city. None of these houses or gers have running water or toilets in the houses, and the government is not planning to change this. The government is building more wells in the districts, but all residents have to haul their water. And remember UB is incredibly dirty, even in the parts of the city with buildings. All the roads in the ger districts are dirt.

When I inquired why the government is not working to bring water to these houses and gers, I was told that they want to do away with all of these districts and replace them with apartments. I was stunned. As my co-worker Chimge said this will never happen. This is a culture built on nomadic pastoralism. People don’t like cities, they want space and they have a lot of stuff in their yards. How that will ever work for these people to live in apartments is truly a question that should be asked. Also, last semester I did a large research project on Urban Development and the research shows that the most cost-effective and best way to implement urban development is through urban upgrading – providing infrastructure in place where the people already live. Not only does this cost so much less than moving people, building new apartments, and then re-locating them; but also across the board if infrastructure is built and people are given secure tenure rights then they invest on average 2 to 4 times what was spent on the development. The people living in the ger districts want to be close to the city for employment and they definitely like having more space. So, the expansion will continue and the lack of sanitation and basic necessities will continue.

Inside the FGP we visited, there are small wall altars to Buddha and the Mongolian doctors practice a combination of traditional and allopathic medicine, which is great. They do have sinks with running water in each room, and the place is very clean. There is limited equipment and certainly not what we would call “advanced” equipment. There are no toilet facilities in the building. The toilet is out back in the fenced dirt yard in a locked outhouse. The outhouse has a big pit with wood planks above it and there is space between two of the planks. In Mongolia, there usually is not toilet paper provided so you bring your own, and even if there is a toilet you do not put the paper into it. It is amazing the level of commitment and caring these doctors have and how hard they work even with so little.

I read a recent report that talked about how poverty levels in the ger districts are rising. Counting all of Mongolia the average household monthly income is 344,700 togrogs, roughly about $243.60. The average monthly household expenditure is about 355,700 togrogs, roughly $251.38. And this is not dealing with just the ger districts. Ulaanbaatar’s poverty level this year is 57.5%. It is amazing to me that a country that once was doing very well, has been ravaged by both Chinese rule and then Russian rule. And yet, I remind myself that India and many of the African countries have been working at development since they gained independence from colonial rule varying between 1940’s and 1960’s. Mongolia has only been independent since the early 1990’s, was left in an economically devastated state and is slowly working to rebuild. It is a very interesting, fascinating and challenging place and I really like it. Except for missing my wonderful husband tremendously along with my family and friends, I am thriving here. I will update more frequently because I have lots of stories and info to share. But for now, it is to bed! Thank you for reading and for your ongoing interest and support!

Training Results & Social Work in Mongolia

My training went wonderfully. Chimge, my supervisor and co-worker did a great job translating and it was truly a success.  I know it was successful based on what Chimge said, and the comments from those who could speak English. Also on Saturday afternoon, they were supposed to cover another topic and they chose to put it off to another time, so we could have more time to cover my topic.  I was definitely the lead trainer, so thank goodness I do know that material well.  I also learned a lot.

It is hard being a social worker working with abuse in any country, but it is exceedingly hard in Mongolia.  Until the 1990’s Mongolia was funded and run by the Soviet Union, and so social problems were covered by government funds and there was not much acknowledged need of problems existing let alone for social workers, or social work as a profession. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to a market economy has been very hard for Mongolia.  The poverty rates rose drastically, along with many social problems that had not been acknowledged during the Soviet rule.  Violence, alcoholism, unemployment, street children, abuse, and human trafficking all skyrocketed. 

Mongolia like so many developing countries put laws on the books but the institutional infrastructure and funding are not in place to implement the laws, let alone meet the needs of victims.  Social work only started as a profession in Mongolia in the mid 90’s with a lot of support from the Open Society Institute and the Soros Foundation.  My co-worker Chimge was one of the first Open Society students and she came to my school to get her Masters in Social Work, even though her undergraduate degree is in engineering.  She is an awesome social worker. 

So with social work being so new here people do not have specific training in practice modalities and effective ways to remedy problems. And on top of that the government adds laws in order to be able to tell the international organizations such as the UN that they have the laws, but there is no way to enforce them or train police, or provide adequate support to social workers or victims.  My training was held at the National Center against Violence here in UB.  They deal with 10 victims each day, an astronomical number for a shelter to take in; and that does not count their centers around the country.  And yet, they have no government funding and private Mongolian funding does not exist.  So they rely primarily on international aid, which is not predictable or guaranteed. 

I was honored to share my knowledge and experience with these amazing people who work so hard to improve the lives of people who have been horribly victimized.  I was able to help them understand and grasp the penetrating consequences of sexual abuse, whether as a child or an adult.  It was amazing because one social worker said that she just thought the women were behaving horribly and she had no idea that their behavior was a normal response to sexual abuse.  I watched her move to a sense of compassion for these women.  And then I later moved the discussion to even though people have been victimized; they are responsible for making decisions to create a new future for themselves.  That was great, because the same woman had an Ah-Ha moment saying I only thought of them as victims and no wonder when they left our shelter they went back to the same situation; we need to help them make new choices, and move beyond being only a victim.  

 

Also, the shelters here are such a new concept and not based on former experience that they do not have the necessary rules and guidelines in place for shelter operations. We talked a lot about rules and realizing that women, mostly teenagers who have been victims of sex trafficking may come to the shelters but until they are ready to change, you cannot help them.  So for the safety of others, shelters must have rules, structures and boundaries and be willing to make people leave the programs if they will not comply.  Several of the social workers said this was extremely helpful and they were going to develop more rules and structure for their shelters.  All in all, 2 days very well spent. 

This week I was able to attend a meeting at the United Nations office here in UB.  My organization, Center for Social Work Excellence presented the results of an extensive research study they completed on Gender Based Violence in Mongolia.  It was a great learning experience for me, watching the group dynamics and the dynamics around language.  I will also be meeting for coffee with two of the UN workers so that will be fun.

Here are a couple pictures of my training.  One is the door to the National Center against Violence.  This is a typical entrance in UB.  Even the UN building desperately needs paint.  I asked my co-worker today as we walked past some student dorms that really need work if when the Soviet Union ran the country were things painted?  She just laughed at my question and I never got an answer.  I will have to ask again tomorrow.  Chimge my co-worker and translator is shown with me in the pictures.  We had about 20 people on Friday and about 10 on Saturday, all crowded into this one room.  Thanks for reading my thoughts, Margaret

 

 

 

International Training Debut tomorrow

Little did I know that before the end of my second week of work, I would be co-training on a 2-day training for social workers and psychologists on Interventions with Child Sexual Abuse!  I will be co-training with my supervisor and Executive Director, Chimge.  I will be the only English speaker so Chimge will translate for me.  Thank goodness, I do have a significant knowledge and experience base with this subject and I have been researching for the last several days.  Chimge put an agenda together and I have filled in my parts.  Please send me your positive thoughts for a successful training!  Next week we are also doing another training on grant and proposal writing.  I am very comfortable with training and public speaking but this is a new audience for me.  After that, it is on to submitting a proposal researching health conditions and services in the ger districts.  This is closely related to all the research I have been doing so I am very excited about this.  I am working very hard, and enjoying it. Yeah!

I also have a fun thing going at one of the little markets I shop at.  Two of the people have started helping me learn Mongolian.  It is so fun.  The checker asked me if I wanted a bag in Mongolian and I tried to repeat the word for bag.  This let her and the security guard know that I wanted to learn, so they repeated the word until I pronounced it right.  Then I forgot it.  But she did the same thing with saying goodbye and that I remembered.  So I will sign off tonight in Mongolian – bayartai – goodbye. 

PS – Mongolia uses a Cyrillic script but that is way beyond me.  

Here are a couple photos of my work building and the road outside it; typical of the contrasts in UB.  

UB 10 days in and still smiling

It has been 10 days since I arrived in Ulaanbaatar – UB – Mongolia.  It is amazing because I feel like I have been here so much longer.  I am settled in my home, know my way to and from work and around town.  When I get on the wrong bus, I know enough of the main square landmarks to get off and find my way home and I am learning a small amount of Mongolian.  UB is a fascinating place.  It is dusty, dirty and very unkempt, and I really like it.  I live amongst a block of old Soviet block style concrete buildings that look pretty bad on the outside, but inside my place is ok.  I have not seen another foreigner around here so I am living amongst the locals. I have mostly mastered laundry except the centrifuge on it is eating my socks.  I have found one of the missing ones, but the other one has to be in there somewhere. 

Some of you are probably wondering how I got here. I went back to graduate school to change my focus to International Social Work.  I chose Washington University in St. Louis because it is the # 1 school in the world for SW and has a large focus on international work.  My wonderful husband, Timothy said that I had moved for his career and now it was my turn so off we went to STL.  Last summer as I was interviewing faculty members to find additional opportunities while in school, I met Professor Yadama who has done extensive work in Mongolia, and around the world.  He asked me to do a research work-study with him and help with his work in Mongolia. It felt right and I said yes and have been learning about here ever since. 

Since sometime in 2007 or 2008 for the first time on earth, we have more people living in urban centers rather than in rural areas.  Many large cities worldwide have experienced a huge migration into urban areas. Here in UB these people migrate in due to economic needs, due to millions of their livestock being killed in drought and severe winters and due to the disintegration of the country and traditional nomadic pastoralism since the Soviet Union collapsed.  People here move in with their gers – pronounced gears. Yurts are the Russian word for these and it is not used here.  The ger districts have expanded rapidly with most areas not having adequate infrastructure, services or ways to meet basic needs.  They are placed in yards amongst other houses or in whole areas of gers.  I have been researching physical and mental health conditions in the ger areas and what services are available there with 3 wonderful faculty members from UB who have been at my school.  And now I am working at the Center for Social Work Excellence with a group of social workers, 2 who have been educated in the US and are fluent in English.  My work is great.  I edited a report on gender-based violence and will attend the meeting when they present this report to the United Nations.  I am helping design trainings on best practice in treatment of child sexual abuse & domestic violence, doing research in the ger areas and community based efforts in place in the ger areas, and helping with several other projects and proposals in the works.  It is a great, very, very committed group of people who are improving the quality of social work throughout Mongolia. And they are fun to work with; a real bonus for me!

In my time here, I have been to the country, attended a fabulous traditional Mongolia song & dance performance, found a Temple Museum and walked all over town.  I was scheduled to attend a 2-week China Summer Institute that the Chinese cancelled due to concerns over swine flu.  I am trying to adapt and make new plans – maybe working longer and also taking more time to travel around Mongolia, and China on my way home.  I am sure it will become clear and the adventure continues.  I am posting just a few pictures here, as it is hard to post many.  Please check out my facebook page where I have posted and will post more pictures throughout. 

More posts to come about Chinggis Khaan, no not Genghis Han, Mongolian people, food and life.  Thank you all for your interest and support. Margaret