Tribute to Kieran

Kieran has left Mongolia. If you do not know him, he is everyone's favorite barroom companion, who not only has a good ear, but can also tell some pretty funny yarns. At his going away party, he was on top form. This was aided by the kegs of Chingis Beer and bottles of Chingis Vodka. For his final toast, he gave the now famous quote, "Hey, my name is Kieran and I am an asshole, but I am the nicest asshole you will ever meet. And when you leave here, you're going to meet a whole hell of a lot more assholes." And similar to FDR'S famous words, John says, "He's an asshole, but at least he is our asshole." Happy Trails and best of luck at the Defense Department.

Teammates

As we have returned to the smog of UB and the daily grind of computer work and report writing, I personally miss the more relaxed days from the field. Here is a picture of our great team, as we navigated our way through Mongolia. From the group picture, you can see that I am taller than the average Mongolian :)

Return to Altai and Meatiness

Since Khovd Aimag borders my old Peace Corps site of Gobi-Altai, I thought it would be a great opportunity to return home and see some old friends. But traveling between Aimags is quite tricky. First, you need to convince a driver to be included in his van, and then there is the endurance of being cramped next to twenty people for hours on end. But leaving Khovd was very smooth and after dozing through night, I awoke at sunrise to the familiar Gobi Desert. As we started our descent up the plateau into Altai, I could not contain my excitement, until I noticed a Russian Jeep driving slowly in the middle of the road. We honked our horn and attempted to pass the vehicle, but he moved closer to the left and we brushed his side, which caused our driver to lose control of the van and drive into a guard rail of a bridge. Luckily, we did not go over the bridge, but instead veered into a ditch. While the driver and some other passengers claimed the jeep driver was drunk, I didn't stay to confirm or deny the sobriety, as I grabbed my backpack and walked the last two kilometers into town, which was a surreal dawn return.
Leaving a place, we often imagine that things will remain as they once were. I was surprised that many of my friends, who were of similar age, had gotten married or had children over the past year. While these changes are welcomed, I was saddened to see that my landlord and neighbor for two years was bedridden and would soon die and that a good friend's husband was permanently paralyzed from a spring car accident. With my accident, the sight of my friend's paralysis, and this week's news that Elbegdorj, the former Prime Minister and current leader of the Democratic Party, was in coma due to a vehicular accident that also killed his driver, caused me to be frightened by the risk we put ourselves in when we travel throughout Mongolia. Our American instincts tell us that we can simply jump into a car and travel anywhere we desire, but this often causes extreme danger.
Contrary to most Peace Corps volunteers, I have intense cravings for Mongolian meat. Whenever hunger strikes, I cannot get my mind off greasy meat dumpling or fried meat pancakes. Especially delicious is the Mongolian bbq, which is prepared with fire heated rocks that are thrown into a milk pale with a sheep, some water, salt, and onions. After sealing the pale, the contraption works very similar to a pressure cooker, and 45 minutes later the most tender and delicious meat is ready to be devoured. With my love for meat, I was ecstatic when my former work colleagues prepared the BBQ delicacy for me. As a sheep is a large amount of food, we could not finish the meat during our picnic, so we put the meat into a cardboard box and threw it into the back of the Russian Jeep. Over the next few days, we would drive to the horse races or wrestling matches, which are held for the national Naadam festival, and we would invariably be too late or early for the event. With little else to do, we would lay a mat on the ground and munch on the leftover meat and fat, which by this time had been joined by hundreds of curious flies. Needless to say, my last day in Altai and the subsequent four days back in UB have been dominated by frequent trips to the toilet and diarrhea.

Altai Pics

The Wild West

Any time someone heads to Western Mongolia, there is always a risk that he or she will not return alive. For this reason, only the smartest and bravest Peace Corps Volunteers are sent to this region. At least that is what some of us proud Western Mongolian residents once claimed.
Flying into Khovd Aimag is quite dramatic, as the plane descends into town, a large salt water lake is directly below and once on the runway you are surrounded by 4000 meter snow capped mountains. Khovd is also unique to have a population that contains many different Mongolian tribes and a large Kazak minority, which accounts for over 10% of the province's population. As Mongolia is one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world, with the large majority of residents being Khalk Mongolian, any aberration from the norm is fascinating.
During our trip, we had the opportunity to visit a young Kazak high school student, who had attended some Mercy Corps trainings on felt production and made beautiful Kazak rugs. From talking to her, we learned that her older brothers had moved to Kazakhstan, which is quite common, and they now worked on construction projects. While she was nearly 18 years old, she had never visited Ulan Bator or Almaty and only once left her home province to visit neighboring Bayan Olgi, which is the Kazak stronghold of Mongolia. When we asked her if she wanted to visit Kazakhstan, she said that she once had an interest, but now she wants to pursue a medical degree in Mongolia. While she is fluent in Kazak, she and many other Kazaks have never formally learned the language though their school system, as instruction is conducted in Mongolian. Also the religious influences in her life seem small, as her parents only visit mosque during Ramadan and the New Year's celebration of Nuarz.
After visiting three different provinces, it has become obvious that Mongolia is going through a severe drought and this winter will be extremely difficult for herders. Although there were early rains, a late frost stunted the growth of grass and the last rainfall for many provinces occurred in May. When we spoke to one vet client, we asked how many animals he planned to treat next spring. He said that there were 16,000 animals in his district, but surely by next spring the number would decrease, as many animals would perish over the winter. While we hope for the best, there are many indicators that point toward another dzud, especially as disaster often strikes after the best metrological and economic years, as herders continue to increase their herd size.

Pictures From Khovd

Jonathon and Zaya's Wedding

On July 2nd, I was fortunate to attend the wedding of Jonathon Khoury, who was a close friend from Peace Corps. It was a great mix of Mongolian and American wedding traditions, with the ceremony taking place at the Ulaan Bator Wedding Palace and an American style reception held on the banks of the Tuul River. Especially fun was meeting Jonathon's numerous family members and friends, who made the long journey and were very curious to learn about Mongolian culture. All the best to Jonathon and Zaya, and we look forward to seeing baby pictures this fall! Attached is a picture from the Wedding Palace and a shot of the guys telling some stories.

The Mongolian Dreamland

For most Mongolians, a June trip to Arkhangai is the perfect summer vacation. Therefore, I felt extremely lucky to visit the province for our evaluation. With green grass, fast flowing rivers, and forested hillsides, Arkhangai is the quintessential Mongolian postcard. While the scenery did not disappoint, the province is suffering from an extreme drought, which has decreased greenness, but the views were stunning for this former Gobi resident.
With such a beautiful landscape, many of our clients have started tour camps to attract the numerous tourists who visit the province each year. When conducting a case study, we traveled to a remote valley and met a business that placed several gers near a beautiful river bend, but did not offer the usual amenities of other camps. We were incredulous when the family claimed their net profit was 5000 USD per year. Apparently, the area has religious significance, which scares Mongolians herders from relocating their herds to the valley. But this aura has attracted a different crowd, who are mostly new-age practioners of Tibetan Buddhism. While in the magical valley, we met a longhaired and sun burned hippy family, who are originally from America, but have been residents of Katmandu Valley for several decades. Each summer they come to this beautiful location with numerous friends. In fact, they were the first guests of the season, as they were organizing for the arrival of thirty vegetarian yogis, who would congregate for three weeks of sunrise meditations at the base of the sacred mountain.
While meeting a functional commune in a remote Mongolian valley was extremely weird, visiting a church run bakery was equally strange. The company, which was named Abraham LLC, had built a factory, church, and ger compound on a hill overlooking the provincial capital, which served as a shining example for the rest of town. And just as Abraham would have wanted, the wood fired ovens supply the majority of Arkhangai’s bread demand. And recently they have expanded their sales points to neighboring provinces. Some of our clients struggle with human resource and labor problems when they expand their businesses, but Abraham LLC does not have these issues, as they employ homeless people and provide them shelter and food. Although I am generally suspicious of religious and missionary activity, this company appears to be locally initiated and it was satisfying to see the dividends of their hard work.
One of the goals of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of our micro lending programs. Contrary to other parts of the world, credit and small loans are readily available for herders and small entrepreneurs. In fact, a recent study stated that 76% of Mongolian nomadic herders have received a commercial loan. Although access to credit is not a problem, the effective use of financing is a major challenge. Most often these loans are used for cash smoothing or consumer purposes, as herders or households take loans during the lean winter months and make repayments in late spring or early summer, after they receive their cashmere sales. While these loans serve an important purpose, they do not increase sales income or allow accumulation of assets, which is widely claimed to be the benefit of micro finance. To the credit of Mercy Corps, their programs have put much attention toward proper business planning and subsequent monitoring, which keeps clients focused on building their businesses and finding new markets. While these activities are time consuming and appear to baby clients, the attention provides needed support for people who have no previous experience operating a business. After visits with some successful entities, I was amazed at what these families had accomplished over a three-year period.

driving the land cruiser off a cliff and the magical valley

Race Horses

Trip to the East

With a small population, a new Chinese run Zinc mine, and some famous livestock breeds, Sukhbaatar Aimag (province) appeared relatively prosperous. On the road, we saw truckloads of recently purchased wild horses bound for other Aimags, as Sukhbaatar is home to the fastest horses of Mongolia. In addition, the Aimag is known for its red cashmere and fat tailed sheep, which are heavier than the normal Mongolian sheep.

Currently, I am reading a book that details “The New Great Game”, which is the scramble for Central Asian oil resources and the subsequent construction of strategic pipelines. Perhaps this book has caused me to imagine a similar tactical competition occurring in Mongolia. After our arrival to the provincial capital, we saw the Governor walking down the street with several Chinese businessmen. The red faces of the Chinese hinted toward indulgence into vodka. The next morning we were scheduled to meet the Governor, but the arrival of the Russian Ambassador and his fleet of Land Cruisers usurped our meeting.

The evaluation allowed us to visit several herders and conduct case studies of their small businesses. These intimate visits reminded me of the generous hospitality of Mongolians, which can sometimes be too warm for comfort. On the last day, we visited a client who purchases cattle each spring and then finishes them on grain, before their sale to UB meat wholesalers. His family’s summer ger is located near a beautiful bend of the Kherleen River, which allowed us a refreshing dip in the evening and again before the long jeep ride back to the city. Attached pictures include the river, the broad steppe, horse roping, and the new 150-foot statue of Chingis located in the middle of nowhere.

UB Developments

Over the last week, our evaluation team had the opportunity to visit several other international organizations that work in Mongolia. Our meetings covered the whole spectrum of development efforts, from a small religious NGO that works with the extreme poor through self-help group/micro finance programs to the ambitious Asian Development Bank project, which will cooperate with ten large agro-processing companies to increase Mongolia’s ability to capture value from their raw materials, such as cashmere, wool, leather, dairy products, meat, and berries.

As would be expected, there was an incredible amount of development jargon espoused. Some organizations sheepishly admitted that they shunned the concept of value chain analysis, but included these terms in recent funding proposals to attract donors. When I asked one program director about their provision of business development services (BDS), she kidded that the term was no longer “en vogue”.

Although these meeting can become repetitive, it is productive for different organizations to communicate. For example, when we met a large bank, one of our team members pitched the idea of a credit line for herders to purchase veterinary care. It would be less than 300 dollars and could be paid directly from banks to veterinarians. As herders receive most of their income from cashmere and wool sales in the late spring, they find it difficult to purchase veterinary services in early spring months. With the banks providing cash smoothing services, the herder’s would receive payment for their cashmere and then close out their credit line. After hearing this innovative idea, the bank leadership was immediately ready to role out this new product.

While the bank’s interest is flattering, their receptiveness is likely due to high levels of liquidity. Basically, the banks are “swimming in cash”, as interest rates have remained high coupled with herder’s being very reliable clients. This liquidity is also fueled by high prices for all of Mongolia’s commodities, including cooper, gold, and cashmere.

Enough of the theory, I am looking forward to my trip to the Eastern Steppe. I will try to make a post next weekend, hopefully with some pictures.

Altai Reunion and UB Development

Meeting up with my old co-workers was a very interesting activity. Usually social activities always start slow with small talk and pleasantries, before becoming increasingly animated throughout the evening. I was surprised that they intended to be well behaved and only drink beer, but apparently not everyone got the message, as others arrived later with the vodka. Looking back I am startled at the amount of vodka that I must have consumed over two years. Even scarier is how a large percentage of Mongolians function daily with a perpetual hangover.

News from my old site is that many people are having children this year. In the lunar calendar, this is the pig year and children born this year will be very intelligent and have a bright future. Also there is a lot of new construction in Altai, as potential candidates for next year's parliamentary election are fueling money into the local economy. Apparently, over ten people have expressed interest to run. Perhaps next summer I can come back to Asia for the Olympics and then observe and influence the very important Mongolian elections.

My co-workers stayed at a hotel, which overlooked most of downtown UB and I counted over 10 construction cranes, which are building numerous luxury apartments for Mongolia's new rich. I have always been amazed with the wealth of this city, especially relative to the more familar and understandable provincial economy. Perhaps the money comes from cashmere, mining or remittances from abroad. Speaking of cashmere, the experts have said that the sector is in a precarious state, because of increased micron level (thickness) and erosion of grasslands. But apparently the message has not gotten back to the herders who continue to increase the number of goats and this year received the highest cashmere prices ever, as a kilogram sold for higher than 40 US dollars.

Mongolia Arrival

After too late of a night, I overslept and barely caught my 6 AM flight to JFK. Refusing to take a cab, I arrived via subway 25 minutes before my departure. Interestingly, if an airline wants you to catch a flight, check in proceeds quickly, while security can also be expedited. Several hours later, while waiting at Dulles, I realized that I had a Leatherman in my laptop bag, which airport security had not detected. So much for securing the homeland...

At Dulles, I was ecstatic to meet some Mongolians, who would travel with me to Beijing and onwards to Ulaanbaatar. They were easy to spot with their overflowing duct taped boxes, which served as carry on luggage, similar to the boxes that are thrown on top of Russian Vans for grueling trips to the capital. After arrival in Beijing, my Mongol friends disappeared for several hours and returned with 15 pounds of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which they would disperse to friends and family back home. While Mongolia has not been infiltrated by fast food culture, perhaps there will a bright future for a new fast food nation.

While being comfortable in UB, I quickly noticed the omnipresence of dusty air. Between the jet lag, going to the Mercy Corps office, and attending a conference at an upscale hotel, it does not seem that I have arrived to Mongolia. It will be refreshing to leave for the Eastern Steppe on the 17th, especially as I have not seen this part of Mongolia.

Ithaca Relaxation

With the end of bad weather and the school year, I decided to stay in Ithaca to enjoy BBQ's, afternoon golf, cocktails, minor league baseball, and everything else beautiful that America offers before heading off to Mongolia.