Yesterday some staff of the community Centre (myself included) drove to the countryside to visit the orphanage kids at their summer camp. This was a 1st for me & 3rd time for our director, but for the rest of the Mongolian staff this has been going on for 8 years every summer. Each year for 3 weeks 48-50 people (Chinese) from Hong Kong come to Mongolia to teach crafts, play games, eat meals together & hang out to show the kids they care.
The Mongolian kids from the government orphanage get so excited when summer is approaching because they cannot wait for the teams from China to arrive when they are at their camp in the countryside. Most of the kids from the government orphanage (80-130 kids) are sent out to their camp each summer (June-August.) Their camp was an old Communist kids camp that was given to them after Communism left Mongolia. They really enjoy the time with the people from Hong Kong because the program is full & they are busy learning, playing & building friendships through Mongolian translators.
The camp small buildings are run down & are need of repair, but it doesn't bother the kids/us or stop the kids/us from having fun. One challenge for the Chinese at the camp is not having water to bathe while at the camp. They only have a small basin to wash/wipe themselves clean every couple of days.
During the school year the kids return to the orphanage (building) to live & go to school. During the school year we also go to visit them just to see how they are doing, if they have any needs we can help with & to take them on special outings around the city every once in a while. These outings give the kids a break, a chance to get out & to have fun like in May when the older kids & I went for a "long" hike. Visiting the kids is an awesome time because I get to know them & they can teach me more Mongolian too.
Just so you know most of the kids were sent to the orphanage because their parents did not want them or were sent because their parents could not afford to feed/provide for them. Although most of them were brought because their parents did not want them. Sad, but true. A recent statistic from Unicef here in Mongolia said that 20% of Mongolian kids are malnourished.
Next week while a new team from Hong Kong will be with the orphanage kids at camp, another Hong Kong team will be here in the city working with us as we offer summer activities (crafts & games) to kids, families in the Ger district. I am really looking forward to next week as it will allow me to really get to know the kids & families in the ger districts.
