We have Moved!

Hi guys, 

Mongolia Summer Camp 1

The White –Dotted Steppe

In July 2010, a team of nine youths from all walks of life and cultural background gathered for a unique taste of summer spelled by the vast green pasture that overlooks the entire rural side of Mongolia.

In Terelj National Park, situated just 80km from the heart of Mongolia’s capital Ulaan Baatar, volunteers from Singapore, Thailand and America adjoined with local Mongolian staff to spend ten meaningful days with street children in a summer camp.

Mongolia Summer Camp, a project that was conceived two years ago, is an independent and self-initiated project. The project director was greatly inspired after hearing of the situation in Mongolia through a humanitarian forum in Korea. Without any organizational support, she boldly took a leap of faith and started raising funds towards this project. After two years of planning and preparation work, the project kicked off this July with the first of what is to be an annual summer camp for Mongolian street children, with a team of nine like-minded youths and partnering the National Centre of Children Rights Mongolia and a local children’s’ shelter.

With great fervor to serve the less fortunate children in Mongolia, the summer camp embodies the project’s vision of “Bridging Hearts, Forging Dreams”. Through the summer camp, this project hopes to bridge the hearts of many people and children to collectively aspire and achieve their dreams for a better future. With this aim in mind, the volunteers embarked on a journey to bring love, hope and encouragement to these children who have been overwhelmed by the despairing moments of life. 

Through the camp, the children had experienced and learnt of the unselfish love that can come and be given to others as demonstrated by the team of us who had flown great distances to be with them. The team too received an overwhelming level of affection from the children who showed us much love and concern in all our camp activities.  Just as the children had learnt much from us, the volunteers too had much to gain from them. We were really inspired by their display of love for one another in many instances (i.e. sharing their bare minimum supply of clothes and shoes with one another) and their tenacious spirit as we hear of their heart-wrenching life stories.

Executing the summer camp was indeed a great privilege to the team. It was hard for many of us to fathom before meeting these children the magnitude of our camp’s significance to them. Knowing that the camp is going to benefit them educationally and emotionally was not enough and indeed the camp meant far more to them.

For these children, it is a fulfillment of a dream of a long time. A simple dream of going to a summer camp as all other better-off Mongolian children do every summer was just unattainable given their financial circumstances. To them, it is not just a chance to go to camp, it is a dream come true and an encouragement that more dreams will come true.

Moreover, most of our children at camp come from broken families battered by poverty. Life is harsh. Having to toil all day long for their own survival on the streets, these children had long given up their childhood, education and dreams. The camp presented to them a break from all these. And more. It is more than a temporal liberation from the demands of life; it is a dream come true, it is a chance to play again, a chance to smile again, a chance to feel loved again, a chance to think and hope once again. Even as they returned to their daily lives after the camp, we hope that in their trying times, our words of encouragement will continue to resound in their hearts and be their source of comfort and motivation. Just as we have left the camp a changed person with a heart overflowing with love and encouragement, we strongly believe it is so too for our children at camp.

We may not be of much tangible help to the hardship that these children face, we are even more so unable to alleviate the impacts of poverty in the lives of children worldwide, but even as the sheer figure of those dwelling in poverty threatens to paralyze us, we remember and are encouraged by the following words:

“It is not how much we do, 
but how much love we put in the doing. 
It is not how much we give, 
but how much love we put in the giving.”

“If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” – Mother Teresa

Mongolia Summer Camp 2010 is the start of more opportunities to share of our abundant love with the street children in Mongolia and in greater ways in the future, we hope for your love and support. 

For enquiries: mongoliasummercamp@gmail.com

Off to Mongolia

Thank you for all the support, we'll spend the awesome summer with the children :)

Mongolia Summer Camp Fundraising Gig

Dear all,

The fundraising gig for the Mongolia SummerCamp Project will be held this 30th May at the Young Musician Society at 7.30pm. The YMS is just near the Arts Museum and 5 minutes walk away from Bras Besah MRT station. Do join us for a night of fun and great music and what's more for a charitable cause! Tickets are up at $20.

To book your tickets, simply drop an email to mongoliasummercamp@gmail.com OR text <tix><your full name> <email> to 96150098

Note: payment can be made via bank transfer and e-tix will be issued. face to face meetup can also be arranged.

Many Thanks!!

Mongolia SummerCamp Project Team

P.S. Grab your friends now and book your tickets!

Under the City

With the advent of the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw the end of the Russian domination in Mongolia, drastic economical reforms took place as communism gave way to the new capitalist market. With the explosion of capitalism, prosperity and progress were ushered in and wealth was tasted only by the shrewd privileged few. On the flipside, the rise of privatization and free market exchanges resulted in an increase in income disparity. Mongolia today remains plagued by the economic troubles of failed industries, decreasing production, lagging production technology, unemployment and dramatic inflation of prices for goods and services. The economic depression has consequently crippled the nation’s social security system, which has at the same time become increasingly essential for the livelihood of the poor. One group of victims of these social economical reforms is the nation’s youth and children.

Based on the Living Standards Measurement Survey (LMS), 36% of the Mongolian population fall below the national poverty line. Furthermore, the Gini Coefficient has also increased in recent years, reaching 0.35% (highest possible score being 1). In 2002, the United Nations conducted a study of poverty in Mongolia, and this study identified street children as a highly vulnerable group and one of the major victims of the nation’s economic demise. There are approximately 4100 reported cases of street children with a multitude of unreported ones. This presents a marked increase from the 400 before the collapse of communism in 1990.

In another study by UNICEF, the issue of poverty is closely linked with the social problems of alcoholism and family violence in Mongolia. As families break down under the tension of economic stress, many children found their refuge out in the streets away from their abusive families.

Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city in Ulaanbaatar, these forgotten children find home in the city’s underground sewage system, nestling up to the hot water pipes that run through, which protects them from the bitter cold winter. Living in the manholes, the children find their new families with the other children of the street, forming their own gangs whom they live and share the little that they have.

Living in the gangs, the elder children play the role of a guardian for the younger ones, protecting them from other gangs and drunkard adults off the street, and disciplining them whenever necessary. Disciplinary actions, however, tend to grow bloody with the elder children cutting the forearms of the younger ones with broken glass shards. However, these are regarded as symbols of pride and honor rather than evidence of violence by the younger ones.

Above the ground, these children make their living by stealing money and food from people and stores. Some gather metal scraps from rubbish dumps and landfills in exchange for a meager sum barely sufficient for a meal. Meanwhile, girls, as young as 12, soon come to discover another income source by prostituting themselves.

Hardship and abuse are nothing foreign to these children who are prone and vulnerable to the violent attacks from adults on the street and even the police authority. Girls are often sexually harassed and even raped. With an inadequate legal system that fails to define the rights of children and the absence of a proper juvenile crime system, punishments for children for petty crimes are dealt harshly. The situation worsens as the child turns 16 whereby he is then recognized legally as an adult and liable for long-term jail sentences.

Mongolia, as with many other developing countries, is plagued by poverty and various other social problems. For the street children in Mongolia, the struggle for survival is made even more difficult because of the extreme winter conditions of nature, the economic slump of the state, corruption of the authorities and the alcoholism and violence of society. These children deserve an opportunity to lead better lives, and it is clear that there is much work that needs to be done. Beyond the manhole, the future promises much more than what the children can perceive. It is in our hands to come together to forge their dreams, and ours as well.

Mongolia Summer Camp dates

Dear all! 

 

Reasons to take your first step

To learn more about the conditions of street children in mongolia, please feel free to visit the following links:  

http://www.un.org/works/sub4.asp?lang=en&id=26

Mongolia Summer Camp Application Update-Dates

Mongolia Summer Camp

Look no further for a chance to spend a beautiful and meaningful time this coming summer holiday! (tentatively in the months of June or July)

*This project is in collaboration with the National Centre of Children Rights Mongolia and supported by St. Andrews Star Scout Group.*