COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN RURAL MONGOLIA FUNDED BY MONGOL RALLY 2009

Transcription

1 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN RURAL MONGOLIA FUNDED BY MONGOL RALLY 2009 Ulaanbaatar 2010

2 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT INTRODUCTION WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE TYPES OF COMMUNITY PROJECT INCOME GENERATION ACTIVITIES CAPACITY BUILDING OF RURAL COMMUNITIES TRAINING AND SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH A DISABILITY AND THEIR PARENTS PROMOTING FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY HEALTHY LIFESTYLES AND ENVIRONMENT

3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We would like to express our special gratitude to the Mongol Rally teams who travel from different corners of the world in order to support rural communities in Mongolia. Every year hundreds of Mongolian households and communities living in challenging circumstances are able to improve their situation through the implementation of small scale development projects. These are run together with local non-profits and community groups and are funded by donations from Mongol Rally teams. None of this would not be possible without their support and the hard work of the local people involved. INTRODUCTION The Adventurists have worked with Mercy Corps Mongolia since Funds raised by the Mongol Rally, which has been run every year since then, are used to finance local community projects in 12 Mongolian aimags (province). Using funds raised by Mongol Rally teams, Mercy Corps works with rural communities to identify their needs, problems and resources and then partners with local non-profits and community groups to design and implement projects to address these local priorities. Mongol Rally project sites 3

4 WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE Through this work, Mercy Corps aims to achieve the following objectives: ered and independently able to set and pursue their own development objectives; that affect them; community groups. local non-profits so that they could implement small projects they designed. All community groups implement their projects based on their own resources and needs. Local non-profits support these groups by giving them a range of training, counselling and technical advice that members and 2,176 family members directly benefited from funds raised by Mongol Rally teams the previous summer. TYPES OF COMMUNITY PROJECT Projects supported using funds raised by the Mongol Rally fall into these categories: The following stories are examples of projects funded by the Mongol Rally. 4

5 INCOME GENERATION ACTIVITIES Mongol Rally funding supports local community groups to help them engage in income generation activities. These activities include vegetable cultivation, sewing and traditional felt, leather and craft making as well as services such as cleaning and massage. Not only do these activities help vulnerable groups and individuals gain much needed income, but they also have other benefits such as raising self-confidence, increasing social participation and enhancing dietary diversity and nutritional intake. agriculture group is working with support from the National Association of Disabled People. They planted and harvested potatoes, cabbages, carrots, beets and caraway. 'One Direction' group member. 5

6 "Negen Zugt community group in Uvs Aimag grow cucumbers and tomatoes. The five group members received training from agriculture professionals and resources through the Mongol Rally. 6

7 community groups. 12 community groups are working in this field and generating up to MNT 1.1 million per month. the Association of Parents with Disabled Children in Bayankhongor aimag is specialized in traditional dress making. gobi aimag consists of six women with disability and they supply canvas bags of mineral samples to local mining companies. They also produce Mongolian ger accessories made of sheep or camel wool and horse hair. 7

8 poses. Their goal is to contribute to a clean environment by promoting the usage of cotton bags instead of plastic bags. 8

9 CAPACITY BUILDING OF RURAL COMMUNITIES non-profits provide them with different kinds of trainings and follow-up counsels according to their needs. The community groups learn skills such as felt, wool and dairy product processing from the local partners. has provided individuals living in remote areas with a sense of community. mainly used for making felt layers of Mongolian ger in rural Mongolia. - group in Uvs aimag consists of four retired woman professors. Using their skills of wool processing and felt craft production, they want to transfer their knowledge to unemployed or disabled residents of their make felts by themselves thanks to the Mongol Rally project. Wool processing training in Uvs aimag by community group "Buyant Urgujikh". 9

10 Felt making process during a training in Uvs aimag The products made by the participants. 10

11 Immediate products from dairy product processing training. "Bayankhuree" herders' group in Sukhbaatar aimag. - - ers' group have also increased their skills to diversify their food through processing vegetables and dairy products. 11

12 TRAINING AND SERVICES FOR CHILDREN WITH A DISABILITY AND THEIR PARENTS With the Mongol Rally funding, Disability Peoples Organizations and community groups are implementing a range of projects that provide social and educational skills training for children with a disability. Many of the social activities also include children without a disability to foster social inclusion and increase their awareness of the rights and capabilities of children with a disability. These projects also promote in education institutions and promoting friendly school environments. Other projects support children with a disability by providing rehabilitation skills training to their parents. The parents then use these skills with their children and train other parents and carers. The Blind Union branch of Uvurkhangai aimag provides training on Braille to 9 children who are blind. 12

13 The Trade Union of People with Disabilities of Uvurkhangai aimag is providing literacy and mathematics skills training to 20 children with a disability. An important component of their work is the handicraft activities as it provides a social activity for the children and also enhances their self-confidence and concentration skills. children with a disability who are unable to go to school. They hope result of the training. 13

14 Teachers group with their students after a competition in Uvs aimag Steps towards the future: Gantuya The Naadam festival is a national week-long feast of summer fun, wrestling and horse racing. But heartbreakingly, during Naadam many years ago, a five year old girl was run down by a racing horse. Gantuya will always associate the summer festival with a spinal injury which left her unable to walk. Gantuya next to her grandmother at her family ger 14

15 The following years were hard on the family. Gantuya underwent two unsuccessful operations and had to drop out of school in first grade - parents. We can only imagine how hard it is for such a dynamic character to loose the ability to get out amongst her community. a local disabled people organization. Through these groups she became well informed about disability issues and made friends with a lot of people. Gantuya and her mother were trained by a rehabilitation specialist back, which slowly gave her the ability to move without a wheelchair. though her initial surgeries were unsuccessful, the exercises and treatments showed great impact and after only six months Gantuya was able to stand on her own feet for several hours. Mongol Rally supported 10 children and their parents to have 2 com- tation centre of children with cerebral palsy. For this project, Takhilt centre hired four specialist therapists. After completing the two courses, 10 parents became trainers of rehabilitation service and had assignments to transfer their knowledge to other parents who have children with a disability. Parents said: For the first time we learned lots of new skills and abilities from this course to work with our children. Most important thing for us was to share our ideas and experiences and become friends during this course. Before, we were alone at home with our child and used to feel sad for the kids. Thanks to this project, the health condition of our children has improved. For example, most of the kids started to walk by themselves due to constant exercises. Apart from physical therapy, children also improved their linguistic skills and even had the chance to study English. 15

16 While the girl is playing with toys, the therapist is doing stretching exercises of her muscles At their leisure time during the course 16

17 PROMOTING FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY People with a disability face many barriers to inclusion in Mongolian ings and transport which prevent them from accessing healthcare, social services, education and employment opportunities. With funding from Mongol Rally, Disability Peoples Organisations have increased community awareness of disability rights which has empowered people with a disability to speak up for their rights and participate in the community. Disability Peoples Organisations have also influenced for accessibility and as a result, some businesses and government departments have voluntarily constructed accessible ramps, handrails, Braille menus has enabled Disability Peoples Organisations to increase their capacity through project management experience which will enable them to better serve people with a disability in the future. A man with a physical disability participates in a question and answer competition in his community 17

18 Releasing potential: Enkhtaivan ried about his future. After his injury, Enkhtaivan became isolated and of the Disabled People Organisations and began to participate in com- contribute to activities that enhanced the rights and inclusion of people with a disability and he decided to join the Disabled People Association. Currently, Enkhtaivan is preparing a proposal to increase accessibility in his city. Ramp constructed at School #2 in South Gobi aimag. 18

19 A ramp being constructed at the Government Agency in Uvurkhangai aimag Accessible Bathroom retrofitted at the Regional Medical Diagnosing Hospital in Uvurkhangai aimag serving 5 aimags of Mongolia (approximately 12,000 people per year) 19

20 Due to increased awareness of disability rights, people with a disability have more opportunities to participate in income generation ac- cleaning services in Gobi Altai aimag. Local enterprises appreciate their activities. 20

21 HEALTHY LIFESTYLES AND ENVIRONMENT Mongol Rally funding is enabling community groups and local nonprofits to influence for healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyles in local communities. Community members have gained knowledge about nutrition, the benefits of physical exercise and social support. The impacts of the projects have taught many people that when they make little positive changes in their own behaviour, large benefits for the broader community and the environment can result. aimag consists of four households of neighbours. They established a playground with basketball court and summer shade in their area using their resources. Now all of the street residents like to come to this area and spend their free time which has enhanced community relationships. 21

22 "We are residents of one street and we are friends. We can improve our living environment by ourselves." munity respect for their aimag. They mobilized their neighbourhood to create an identity by painting the fences of 212 household together and planting trees. 22

23 NOTES For more information, please visit to Contact address: 23

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