(MissionNewswire) Holy Family Parish, located in the Khan-Uul district in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, was entrusted to the Salesians in 2007. The parish is located where poor families live in tents, even in the winter when it drops far below freezing.

Among them is a family who has two older children. The father of the family was paralyzed six months ago and the mother is taking care of him. She survives by picking up cow dung in order to warm up the tent. The oldest child has three children but does not have any permanent work. The second is still studying in college. Salesian Father Mario Gaspar dos Santos, from the parish, recently visited the family.

He said, “The house was terribly cold when I entered. She did not warm the tent yet because there is a lack of coal. It was minus 15 outside. The husband lay down on the bed, covering himself with three layers of blankets. When I looked around there was nothing but an empty basket for the coal. So, I asked how they were going to cook dinner for the night and if they had any food. The mother replied that they hadn’t eaten for the whole day and did not have food for dinner. She then said she was going to look for some wood in order to heat the tent.”

Fr. Gaspar dos Santos provided the family flour and two heads of lamb. When he went to buy coal, he asked for help from the Don Bosco Day Care Center’s manager. He explained, “When we found the store, we went directly to the seller, saying we are going to buy coal for the poor family, could you allow us to buy 12 sacks? Due to the fact that, in Mongolia, a family is allowed only to buy six per week. Since we were buying for the poor family, they gave us special permission to purchase 12 sacks. The family was very grateful for the help we offered to them.”

Salesians have parishes, primary and secondary schools as well as the Don Bosco Technical Institute, which helps older youth gain the skills for employment. Since 2001, youth who have not been able to complete a traditional high school education have found educational opportunities at Don Bosco Technical Institute. The training facility started with 30 students and today has more than 300 students who are gaining skills in car mechanics, tailoring, secretarial services, welding and construction.

Close to 27.8 percent of the population in Mongolia is living at or below the poverty line with a significant jump to 35 percent for those living in rural areas. Herders in the countryside struggle to survive as their traditional livelihood dissolves, and there are few job opportunities for young generations.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Mongolia – Helping the needy is daily mission and witness for Sons of Don Bosco

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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MONGOLIA

(MissionNewswire) A former student from Don Bosco Technical Institute in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, recently graduated from university with a degree in Mongolian linguistics and Mongolian traditional script. She hosted an exhibition in December 2021 to showcase her work.

Ms. Mungunbolor graduated from Don Bosco Technical Institute and has been working in the school administration since 2011. Salesians sponsored her university studies. Mongolian script is no longer used in daily life in the country and was challenging to learn and practice. Her exhibition was work on the words of St. Paul and the words of Don Bosco in art.

Mungunbolor said, “I wanted to convey some messages to those who visited my exhibition, especially the students in the school. I am not a Catholic, but I felt these words are very powerful messages that people nowadays need to know. Working as the purchasing officer in the school, I have never stopped practicing to improve my skills and technique in writing Mongolian script. It is our Mongolian treasure that needs to be preserved.”

In August 2021, the Ministry of Culture, the government implementing agency for culture and arts, the city education department, and the Mongolian Children’s Art Center organized a group of Mongolian language teachers in public secondary schools to join together to rewrite “The Secret History of Mongolia” in traditional calligraphy. There were close to 80 teachers selected including Mungunbolor. She said, “I was the only teacher who comes from a technical school after I passed the skill test. I feel happy with my presence among them because I can learn from them, besides, they know more about Don Bosco school in Mongolia through me.”

“The Secret History of Mongolia” was written in three forms including a 60 meters (65.6 yards) long scroll, a wall-size panel and a 50-page book. Mungunbolor added, “I have contributed personally to this exhibition with a chapter of the history of Mongolia describing Chinggis Khan and with the words of Don Bosco, ‘For you I study, for you I work, for you I live and for you, I am ready even to give my life.’”

Mungunbolor credits her time at the Don Bosco Technical School with what she has been able to accomplish. She had words of encouragement for other past pupils. “Just as everyone strives for success, I struggle within myself every day to achieve my dreams. There are so many things to think about in the future. I hope I can reach that one day. Therefore, don’t waste time, do whatever you can, share what you have, dream and feel your dream right now.”

Since 2001, youth who have not been able to complete a traditional high school education have found educational opportunities at Don Bosco Technical Institute. The training facility started with 30 students and today has more than 300 students who are gaining skills in car mechanics, tailoring, secretarial services, welding and construction.

Close to 27.8 percent of the population in Mongolia is living at or below the poverty line with a significant jump to 35 percent for those living in rural areas. Herders in the countryside struggle to survive as their traditional livelihood dissolves, and there are few job opportunities for young generations.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Mongolia – Mongolia Past Pupil fall in love with Caligraphy and Don Bosco

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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MONGOLIA

(MissionNewswire) Brother Krzysztof Gniazdowski, a Polish Salesian missionary, has served in Mongolia since 2007 and has spent most of his 25 years of consecrated life in the East Asian country, according to an article in the UCAnews (Union of Catholic Asian News). Today, Bro. Gniazdowski oversees the Salesian mission in Darkhan, Mongolia’s third largest city, where a Salesian vocational school was established in 2005. The school serves 300 students.

Through the years, Bro. Gniazdowski worked in a number of Salesian organizations in Mongolia. He first worked at the Don Bosco Technical School in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. The school offers vocational courses in auto mechanics, welding, plumbing, design and sewing, office administration, and construction. In close to 20 years, the school has graduated more than 1,000 students, mostly poor youth who had dropped out of school previously, according to the article. He also served at a Salesian-run orphanage for street children in the capital that has been a home for hundreds of poor, abandoned children since 2003.

The school offers courses for students in computer skills, writing and formatting documents, processing video files, drawing and handicrafts, and foreign languages to help them later when finding employment abroad. There is also a library for the local community which serves as encouragement for reading.

“It’s often the lack of income which causes families to break up. Children suffer the most because they remain on the streets where they steal and are victimized and exploited,” said Bro. Gniazdowski in an article with ANS.

Most recently, thanks to Pope Francis’ celebrated environmental encyclical, Laudato Si’, Bro. Gniazdowski has been involved in agricultural and ecological projects. He runs a small farm and nursery near the Salesian center in Darkhan, according to the UCAnews article

“During the vacation season and early spring after school, we take students to a farm. There they learn how to learn how to till the soil, sow, plant and care for vegetables including tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, pumpkins, watermelon, cucumbers, squash, and broccoli,” he explained in the article.

Together with students, Bro. Gniazdowski plants various kinds of Mongolian natives, shrubs, trees and flowers. He noted that many youth have enjoyed learning how to farm and see their hard work pay off during the harvest. The crops from the farm are sold, and the money goes to a special fund set up for children and youth for scholarships or school admission fees. On the farm, students also learn about protecting their environment. They segregate waste and sew shopping bags from fabrics for use instead of plastic bags and packages.

Close to 28 percent of the population in Mongolia is living at or below the poverty line with a significant jump to 35 percent for those living in rural areas. Herders in the countryside struggle to survive as their traditional livelihood dissolves, and there are few job opportunities for young generations.

According to the World Bank, the poverty rate jumped to nearly 60 percent after 1990, which was directly linked to the country’s transition to a market economy after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Mongolia’s centrally planned economy. Today, in part due to Mongolia’s vast mineral resources and mining, the country’s economy is rebounding and the poverty rate is in decline, having decreased from 38.7 percent in 2010 to where it stands today.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS) 

Union of Catholic Asian News – Polish Salesian on a mission of joy and love in Mongolia

ANS – Mongolia – Missionary work in the country

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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MONGOLIA

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries have been operating the Catholic mission station of Shuwuu, Mongolia, for the past four years, but families who live in this district have been accessing water from the Catholic mission since 1998. Throughout the year, people from the countryside come to the well to stock up on drinking water to take to their homes.

At least 300 families come to the well because they have no other clean water access. In many places in Mongolia, water is a rare commodity and is often brought to villages by tanker trucks. Services like this are especially popular with families and young people in Shuwuu, especially during challenges times, such as this year. Mongolia has been in isolation since January, which has caused difficulties and challenges for its citizens.

Brother Andrew Le Phuong, director of the Salesian planning and development office in Ulaanbaatar, said, “Our hope is that clean water services and the other initiatives of the Salesians in Mongolia will become better known and attract more and more generous people around the world to contribute to our mission.”

Mongolia is not the only country that lacks access to clean water. UN-Water estimates that worldwide 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and by 2050, the world’s population will have grown by an estimated 2 billion people, pushing global water demand up to 30 percent higher than today. One in four primary schools has no drinking water service, with students using unprotected water sources or going thirsty. In addition, UN-Water notes that more than 700 children under 5 years of age die every day from diarrheal disease linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation.

Close to 28 percent of the population in Mongolia is living at or below the poverty line with a significant jump to 35 percent for those living in rural areas. Herders in the countryside struggle to survive as their traditional livelihood dissolves, and there are few job opportunities for young generations. Prior to 1990, the country received nearly 30 percent of its gross domestic product from the former Soviet Union and had a centrally planned economy with the government providing basic goods and a full range of public services. As a result, poverty in the country was very low even in rural areas.

According to the World Bank, the poverty rate jumped to nearly 60 percent after 1990, which was directly linked to the country’s transition to a market economy after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Mongolia’s centrally planned economy. Today, in part due to Mongolia’s vast mineral resources and mining, the country’s economy is rebounding and the poverty rate is in decline, having decreased from 38.7 percent in 2010 to where it stands today.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Mongolia – Clean water for 300 families

Salesians in Mongolia – Clean water access

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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MONGOLIA

(MissionNewswire) Salesian missionaries in Darkhan, Mongolia, operate the Don Bosco Center, which includes agriculture education and a working farm. The center offers a chance for local youth to gain the skills needed for employment. The yield from the farm also supports the feeding program at the local Salesian Youth Center. Because of this, each year the farm holds an “agro-oratory” harvest event.

Despite the challenges of agriculture brought on by extreme temperature fluctuations between seasons, rising from +40° C in summer to -40° C in winter, the Don Bosco Center farm is important to the local community. This year Salesian missionaries, lay staff, and 40 children and older youth from the Salesian Youth Center came together to work on the farm. A total of 1,600 kg of squash and other varieties of vegetables were harvested.

“Each year the harvest brings a great source of pride to the community and enables youth to have some practical hands-on experience on the farm,” says Father Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Salesian missionaries in Mongolia continue to create programs that assist those in need. From teaching job skills and providing shelters for street children to building full-time youth centers with feeding programs, missionaries are providing for those most in need and helping poor families break the cycle of poverty.”

Since 2001, Salesian missionaries have been providing shelter and education to poor youth in Mongolia. Salesian programs aid students who are having difficulty coping in traditional high school settings and families who are arriving in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar in desperate need of employment. In addition to basic educational courses, missionaries offer auto mechanics, welding and computer classes. In 2003, responding to the growing needs in the community, Salesian missionaries added the Caring Center for street children and the Don Bosco Industrial Training Skills Center. In 2004, the Don Bosco Center and farm, along with the Salesian Youth Center, were formed in Darkhan.

Close to 28 percent of the population in Mongolia is living at or below the poverty line with a significant jump to 35 percent for those living in rural areas. Herders in the countryside struggle to survive as their traditional livelihood dissolves, and there are few job opportunities for young generations. Prior to 1990, the country received nearly 30 percent of its gross domestic product from the former Soviet Union and had a centrally planned economy with the government providing basic goods and a full range of public services. As a result, poverty in the country was very low even in rural areas.

According to the World Bank, the poverty rate jumped to nearly 60 percent after 1990, which was directly linked to the country’s transition to a market economy after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Mongolia’s centrally planned economy. Today, in part due to Mongolia’s vast mineral resources and mining, the country’s economy is rebounding and the poverty rate is in decline, having decreased from 38.7 percent in 2010 to where it stands today.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – Mongolia – A successful agricultural experience

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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According to the World Bank, the jump in the poverty rate after 1990 was directly linked to the country’s transition to a market economy after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Mongolia’s centrally planned economy. Today, in part due to Mongolia’s vast mineral resources and mining, the country’s economy is rebounding and the poverty rate is in decline, having decreased from 38.7 percent in 2010 to 27.4 percent in 2012.

Salesians in Mongolia have focused their work on providing opportunities for children and families struggling to improve their lives. Salesian programs aid students who are having difficulty coping in traditional high school settings and families who are arriving in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar in desperate need of employment.

Since 2001, youth who have not been able to complete a traditional high school education have found educational opportunities at the Don Bosco Technical and Industrial Training Center in Ulaanbaatar. The training facility started with 30 students and today has more than 300 gaining skills in car mechanics, tailoring, secretarial services, welding and construction.

“Nearly 90 percent of the students at Don Bosco Technical and Industrial Training Center can be defined as school dropouts and come from very poor families,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. “Students receive training that is critical to their success and to guarantee the best opportunities after graduation, courses are structured in collaboration with local industries.”

Recently, 60 students graduated from the center ready to embark on professional employment in their chosen fields. The center provides training in skills required in industries that have a need for new employees and that offer a livable wage. Creating coursework to meet the needs of local industry increases the rate of student success upon graduation. As a result, the employment rate for graduates of the center is among the highest in the country.

“Salesian programs enable students to quickly transition from the classroom into employment, putting their knowledge and skills into practice. Students that are able to quickly connect with livable wage employment are then able to give back to their families and their communities,” adds Fr. Hyde.

As more people than ever before are moving to the capital of Ulaanbaatar, unemployment and homelessness among youth is on the rise. Salesians in the city continue to create programs to assist those in need. From teaching job skills and providing shelters to street children to building full-time youth centers, Salesians are providing for those most in need and helping poor families break the cycle of poverty.

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Sources:

Salesian Missions – Mongolia

World Bank – Mongolia

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The study entitled Child Poverty in East Asia and the Pacific: Deprivations and Disparities noted that family poverty often affects children most directly through their access to shelter, food, water, sanitation, education, health and information. When a child is deprived of one or more of these essential services, their experience of poverty deepens.

Analysing the situation of children living in seven East Asia and Pacific countries with a child population over 93 million, the report found over 30 million suffered from at least one form of severe deprivation, such as the inability to go to school, or access basic health care, safe drinking water, a sanitary toilet or adequate nutrition – and more than 13 million suffered from two or more forms of severe deprivation.

“The study demonstrates that income gains, including in middle income countries in the region, have not necessarily translated into gains for all children,” said Mahesh Patel, UNICEF Regional Advisor for Social Policy. “Any national equity and disparity reduction policy must start with child poverty reduction at its centre.”

The report reviews child poverty studies carried out in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam from 2007 to 2010.

“The thorough analysis presented in these national studies will help countries target programmes and policies to better reach the most vulnerable in society and to use resources most efficiently,” said Anupama Rao Singh, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific.

The seven Asia-Pacific countries were among 53 worldwide that participated in UNICEF’s Global Study on Child Poverty and Disparity, which draws attention to the daily deprivations suffered by children and their negative impact on national development.

In Lao PDR, for example, while 38 per cent of children are assessed as income poor, as many as 75 per cent are assessed as living in poverty based on this broader – and increasingly recognized – measure of child poverty.

In Vietnam, children from ethnic minority groups are 11 times more likely to suffer from multiple severe deprivations than children from ethnic majority groups – a pattern found in many other countries.

In Vanuatu, nearly one in five children suffers from severe health deprivation.

The report also underlines that much more needs to be done to reduce the disparities that impede the development of large numbers of children in East Asia and the Pacific. Inequity is rampant, with income inequality either remaining stagnant or increasing in all seven countries despite significant GDP growth over much of the last decade. Deprivations and disparities faced by children must feature prominently in national development and poverty alleviation plans in the region and inform how resources are allocated. Child-sensitive social protection policies that address the needs of the most vulnerable children will also be essential to reducing the deprivations children face in the region.

Gaps between rural and urban areas, different ethnic groups, geographic areas, and households headed by well-educated versus poorly educated adults were among the most notable disparities across the seven countries.

“Clearly the challenge now facing us in East Asia and the Pacific is to address the additional dimensions of child poverty revealed in this study, building on, but going beyond the foundation of economic growth in the region,” Rao Singh said.

The report also revealed the following trends:

Rural versus urban – child poverty was 30 per cent higher in rural Cambodia than in urban areas, 60 per cent higher in rural Thailand, 130 per cent higher in rural Philippines and 180 per cent higher in rural Vietnam;

Geographic disparities – sub-national disparities within countries are, in some instances, more pronounced than the disparities between lower- and middle-income countries in the region– for example, the number of children suffering from severe deprivation in Vietnam was more than six times higher in the north-west region than the Red River Delta; and 50 per cent higher in southern Thailand than the North;

Disparities among ethnic minorities – disproportionately high levels of poverty and deprivation are evident among some ethnic minority children. This is an issue in almost all seven countries surveyed in the region. For example, the number of severely deprived ethnic minority children was about 60 per cent higher than the number of severely deprived children from dominant ethnic groups in both Lao PDR and Mongolia, 9 times as large in the Philippines and nearly 15 times larger in Thailand;

Education of household head– severe deprivation more than doubled in households where the household head had only a primary-school education or less, compared to households where the household head had secondary or higher education;

Family size – the incidence of severe deprivation in Mongolia and Vietnam almost doubled in households with more than seven members, compared to those with four or fewer. In Thailand, the incidence more than tripled under these conditions.

UN Photo/Kibae Park

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Salesian Missions works with UNICEF in countries around the globe.

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