Our "hotel"::

Sandstorm in the Gobi::

We arrived in the Gobi Desert yesterday morning where the only pavement we saw was the run-way….Our jeep immediately pulled onto a dirt road where we arrived at our lodge 1.5 hours later. It was a very bumpy ride! We stayed at Three Camel Lodge and had a beautiful ger with a bathroom attached. Showers are at the main lodge though. En route we saw herds of camels and wild horses. Many flocks of sheep goats and cattle. There were many miles of wide-open spaces with nothing and suddenly you would see a pack of animals. Our first day was very very windy and we decided to go to the sand dunes. We arrived back at the lodge to a great dinner. Kim had a late night massage that was great- I was a little concerned as it only cost 35.00 for an hour BUT it was one of the best massages I ever had. Then off to sleep in our beautiful gers to the fantastic silence and darkness.

Andrei and Dylan at the National Park:: 

Jess and Jack::

The Kipps at the Flaming Cliffs::

Our stop at the Camel herders::

We awoke the next day to a drive to the national park, where we hiked and enjoyed the lovely mountains. We ate a picnic lunch and drove to the flaming cliffs. There was much less wind today and it was actually hot.  We stopped at a ger camp that was shaving their herd of camel. For 1.50 per ride the little boys and Andrei rode the camels. Nancy had a great massage back at the lodge while Dylan, Jack and I played an awesome game of “Mongolian” Monopoly- we ate then called it a day!

We awake at 4:00am for the drive to the airport to catch our 7:00 flight back to Ulan Bataar...

Dinner in the Countryside with Lama’s family

Lama has built a beautiful home in the country since I was here last. He still maintains the house in the city, as it is where his little ones attend school. He has a son (27), a daughter (11),  and a son (6).  We drove out to the countryside for a wonderful dinner. First we toured the house that is complete with a banya/sauna (Must be the latest CRAZE!!!) The kids had a ball running around on the open steppes. We had bootz for dinner and they were delicious. After dinner we sat around discussing things and Lama blessed us all. He even replenished my supply of special incense that is devised to eliminate negative vibes in a home (“A must with teenagers” Lama says!)

He also gave me some medicine to protect my liver and kidneys…. He and his wife gave us all lovely gifts- me a cashmere scarf, Jess some slippers and the boy’s toys and a shirt.

9:00 this morning began by a visit to the Infant Sanitarium (IS). We met with Dr Uugantsetseg (Dr U) who is the Director. This is the orphanage that both Dylan and Jack lived in for the first year of their lives (Dylan came home at 12 months, Jack at 17 months). Dr U has been here for three years and is a pediatric neurologist trained in Munich and fluent in English.

 

The overall impression of the state of the facility was very good. Dr U has instituted many new programs. She has speech therapy, PT, and OT specialists come in. There are currently 75 children living in the facility aged 0-3. The number stretches to 100 during the winter when it is just too cold for many families to safely care for their little ones. Dr U does try to rotate the winter visitors through though so that more children can receive medical care. All these children receive a physical and any necessary treatment, they may stay as long as it takes to complete their care.

 

Holt Agency in Oregon just recently stopped performing adoptions in Mongolia. (They were one of only three agencies), when this happened they pulled their funding to the IS. They have been funding the orphanage at $1,000.00/month for years. This has been a blow to the already under budgeted facility. The nutrition program is no longer funded and will have to be eliminated.

 

The IS employs 108 employees. Regular staff makes 160,000T per month, Nurses 200,000T/mo and Doctors 260,000T/mo.

 

The current state of abandoned children in Mongolia is more optimistic than in the past. The government pays parents for all children to help care for them. When a child is born they receive 100,000T then they receive 3000T/month plus  25000/ every quarter. This allows a lot of mothers the ability to keep support their children.  This is responsible for a large decrease in abandoned children in Mongolia. The orphanages are still at capacity but parents are not abandoning. (?). The police have also stepped up their investigations and the last year alone they located 50 parents of abandoned children and forced them to take back their children……..

 

The IS currently does not have any children available for international adoption( Police clearances etc).

We spent some time with a Nanny named Ountsetseg. She has worked at the IS for over 20 years and remembers all the children who have been adopted. (She was really sweet to my kids and this meant A LOT to them!) she asked me to send a message to all the children..

“I wish you happiness , grow big and come back. Do not forget Mongolia.”

12:00- we went to the capital building and met with the Deputy Prime minister . He is a very influential man. He was the last Prime Minister and is the head of the Revolutionary Party (Mongolia is a two party state- Democrats and the Revolutionaries).  The Deputy Prime Minister has many departments under him children and family are one of his responsibilities. We had to agree NOT to talk adoption with him though. International Adoption is a difficult subject especially for a country who has a history of always taking care of his or her own.  Abandoned children are a somewhat recent occurrence. Jessie, Andrei and I went to the meeting with the DPM , his official translator and his secretary. He had been briefed on BRAFF’s activity in Mongolia and opened up by thanking us for everything we have done. He is very grateful for our efforts in helping orphans. We then spoke specifically of the HOPE (Help Orphans Pursue Education) program in Ulan Ude and asked how he thought we could implement some type of program in Mongolia. Russia pays for orphan’s college education and gives them dormitory space. In Mongolia no orphan has ever passed the very very difficult college entrance exams given each June so no orphan has ever attended college in Mongolia. This is primarily due to the fact that no orphans go to the college prep high school and all attend an inferior school that directs the kids toward the trades. The DPM was very excited and suggested that he run a contest at all the orphanages that have children completing secondary school ( 8^th grade) We would select the winning contestants (the children the directors believe are most academically gifted and  have a strong desire to go on with their education)  and give them a chance at a University Education . We then pressed him for Tuition and Dormitory space ( There is currently a huge waiting list for the dorms in the city of Ulan Bataar- BUT one word from the DPM and we could get a spot)..Much to our happiness- The DPM agreed to give our orphans FREE Tuition and a FREE Place in the Dormitory…ALL we have to do is groom an orphan to pass the very difficult Exam!

We were very happy with the results of our meeting but now had to come up with a plan and draft some contracts for the DPM to sign before we leave. With the DPM signing onto our project, it will make it much easier to get the support of the local agencies and other people who work under him. We will not be dealing with him personally on our program but he is going to be assigning  someone as our contact.

2:00- While searching for the Catholic Cathedral, Ulzi and I ran across the Dom Bosco Training Facility in Ulan Bataar. Wow- Was I impressed!!! I asked the driver to stop so I could take some pictures. The buildings are fantastic, totally the opposite of the building at the Salvo Children’s home that is on the out skirts of the city. As I was taking pictures a gentleman walked up to me and said” HI, How are you? Can I Help You?” I was in shock at the perfect English! It was Father Carlo from Sacramento California just arrived back this morning and the head of the entire Salesian effort in Mongolia ( The training facility in UB, the Salvo Children’s home and the training facility in Durham Mongolia)

Fr. Carlo has been heading the facility for 9 years. There are 270 students at the center that receive technical training. Instructions occur in five areas for a three-year course. The students are taught woodworking ( they make beautiful furniture)

Seamstress ( they learn to design and sew entire outfits)

Auto Mechanics ( they have a huge work area with 8 old cars and 4 Mercedes Benz engines)

Plumbing/Welding

Secretarial

 

Tuition runs $200.00/year. Father has never denied any student admittance for lack of funds. More than once he has received a lamb or goat in payment! The students do however have a strict disciplinary code. It is not a dormitory so kids come to school 5 days a week, If they have more than a few absences,  or do not get passing grades they are dropped from the program. Every child we saw ran to greet Father Carlo! ( It reminded me of Spencer Tracey in Boys Town- But it was really true!) We spent two hours talking a touring the facility. I was extremely impressed.

 

The Mongolian Government has recognized Fr Carlo . Reluctantly he told me of his receiving the Metal of Honor from  the Mongolian Government . He is the 1^st educator ever to receive this award. He also has been recognized by the US Agency for International Development. Unfortunately, neither of these awards come with money but I can see why this program is being recognized- the children are not only taught a trade but the Salesian Belief is “ We Prepare for Life” . The Priests prepare these kids for family and work. They talk about the need to not get a divorce, to finish your education before marriage..things these children have never heard before.

 

We said we then had to run to find the cathedral and he said it is right here!!! We had passed it many times this week but here is no sign and NO CROSS! ( Mongolian govt. prohibits crosses on exterior of buildings).  The cathedral was built in 2006 and seats 1000. There are currently about 600 Catholics in Ulan Bataar .

 

 4:00 we met with the Director at the Ministry of Social Welfare. This meeting was all about adoption.      Enkhtuya Tumer- Ochur is the director of the department that handles all international adoption. She brought with her assistant who does all of the dossier work. Some interesting facts…they currently have 37 dossiers from around the world on file. Six have been completely reviewed and are ready for referral. The problem is they only have two children cleared for international adoption. The necessary police reports and proof of abandonment are not complete on all the children who are left at these facilities….This seems crazy to me and I said as much. Then Enkhtuya (whom I liked very much ) told us the real problem is the other 43 facilities throughout UB that have children living there. They are private organizations and funded by charitable organizations outside of Mongolia. The only government facility is the IS ( visited this morn), and it is the only facility that the government has a handle on what children are there. (HUH??) It is a huge problem that these other 43 private facilities have children that are eligible for IA but because the facilities are receiving money for taking care of them…they will not release them. This knocked me off my chair! The fact that there are children who could find loving families ( and families very anxious to have them) but they are being denied because some charitable organization is funding their support in Mongolia. I am certain no NGO ( non- government organization) would want their financial support to prohibit a child from leaving the orphanage and joining a family!

What to do? A database has been on the government’s wish list for many years now. They have no money for the manpower or computer it would take to organize it.

We agreed to pursue an agreement between the Ministry and BRAFF to complete a database of all the children at these 43 facilities (all 43 fall under Enktuyas authority for their licensing. She can force them to comply). The initial plan looks like BRAFF will support the project by providing a computer for the duration of the project (est. 6 months) and $300  (per month for a bonus to the worker who will be working as a volunteer for the Ministry. ( Welcome to Mongolia- Nothing is simple!). I told the Ministry that I needed to get the BRAFF Board approval but I will leave a signed draft to be submitted after I can talk to the board.

Dinner with Lama.

I had not seen Lama in about a year and a half and was very excited to see him for Dinner. Lama is a very special person to me as he was instrumental in helping us to bring Jack home in record time back in 04. Lama (or Teacher) is a Khombo Lama, which means he is the head lama. There are three lamas of the highest rank in Mongolia under the Dali Lama- Our friend is one of the three. He is the lead Medical Lama in Mongolia. He manages a monastery with over 40 monks. a Hospital, a clinic, and a medical school where he graduated 28 Monks this spring. He has a huge pharmacy in eastern medicines and has hundreds of patients a day who come to his clinic daily to have a consultation with one of his doctors and receive medicines, teas and incense. Lama is the Dr to many of the parliament members and the current president of Mongolia.

WE ate at a great restaurant at the Kepinski Hotel and then Teacher took us on a tour of his Monastery (Jessie had never seen it before) Lama’s family was out in the countryside but we will see them for dinner tomorrow.

The Black Market, This morning we awoke to go shopping at the black market. This place has a reputation for pickpockets and thieves but we left all valuables at home (passports etc) and headed out. Amongst the treasures we found…a vintage framed picture of the greatest Mongolian Wrestlers from the last 5 decades(!!!), two brass horses, and some silk fabric.