We had 18 kids from the community come ranging from 2 years old to 14. It was awesome! I had a great opportunity to chat with the kids in Mongolian of course. After craft class we all played games outside in the community centres yard. I really like opportunities like this because our kids really like spending time with & playing together with the Mongolian community kids. I am not a fan of foreign kids being segregated from local kids because their is so much lost like learning a new culture, a new language, sharing good values & having friends from a different country.
The craft class teacher shared how cool the 1st class was & recruited a 2nd Canadian teacher to help this past weekend. This past week was a fun family time with all the community kids because all 4 of us went to talk, create & play with the kids. It was funny because I went on to the street & saw some kids walking down the street & told them (in Mongolian) that there was a craft class going on & they needed to come. They said "oh, big brother, just wait" & ran down the street. They came back 15 minutes later with 7 of their friends to join the craft class. I was so excited.
Two weeks ago during one of our staff meetings our Mongolian accountant told us about a poor Mongolian family that only had a Mongolian summer ger. Her fear was that they would be extremely cold, would probably get sick or worse could freeze this winter only having a summer ger. We had a church kids program in Canada give us a donation this fall & really felt that Teresa & I were to use this money to winterize this families ger. It was so awesome because to buy the wood floor, the felt to winterize the ger, the fuel for the truck, & the food (small amount of groceries) we broght for them to eat was almost the exact amount the kids program raised for us.
The family is very special to me because the young girl of 7 years is being raised by her grandparents because her mother died when she was younger. They are doing what they can to raise their granddaughter, but due to their age can't do much because they look in their late 60's. The young girl is very bright & has already received 3 gold medals for, reading, writing & mathematical skills. These are the people we like to invest in.
The Mongolian ger they bought 3rd hand & is old, but is a good quality one. It was so awesome to bless this family with a gift that will keep them warm this winter. The grandfather was quietly shedding tears, the grandmother was quietly shedding tears with a huge smile on her face & the granddaughter had a huge smile on her face & quietly said to me in Mongolian, "баярлалаa" which means "thank-you." They were in total disbelief that there were kids in Canada that cared enough for them to give money so they could have a warm home this winter & a small amount of food.
This for me makes all the challenges of living here melt away. Just helping the everyday poor Mongolian family & their children/grandchildren.
If you watch the slideshow on the left you will be able to see the process of winterizing a Mongolia ger.
If you watch the slideshow on the left you will be able to see the process of winterizing a Mongolia ger.