Once again I return after a brief hiatus from my blog. Please be
assured that I have been busy with my fair share of projects, camps,
traveling and various other duties, nevertheless, it is always a
pleasure to share my journey with you all.
This past
spring, the third semester of the Gobi-Altai Happy Center for disabled
children and friends commenced. We were fortunate to have received a
generous donation from both World Vision International and the US
Embassy to Mongolia, of which we are tremendously grateful. Last spring
also saw the arrival of our country director to Gobi-Altai, a visit from
the US Embassy's office of public affairs and a celebration of
international women's day and soldier's day. Before leaving to UB
for our bi-annual volunteer advisory council meeting, I taught an annual
black history month lesson at community English club. Our students were
just as excited to participate as I was to teach about African-American
history and culture. I spent most of April and May preparing for
Healthy Hoops, a youth leadership, life-skills and basketball
development camp funded by the US Department of State.
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Black History Month Lesson |
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Showing a video about American diversity |
Fast-forward
to June and Healthy Hoops 2015 was a success! After the camp I traveled
back to Ulaanbaatar to volunteer at the Lotus Orphanage and Rose Home
for children with special needs. The Lotus Children's Center serves as
an orphanage and school for nearly a hundred children between the ages
of 12-18, many found abandoned on the streets of UB. The lotus Center is
an orphanage home, but more importantly it is a developmental center for
abandoned and vulnerable children. In addition to its duties as an official Mongolian NGO
caring for vulnerable and abused children it also takes part in
community outreach projects. Over the course of 2 days, I worked closely
with the orphanage's social worker, facilitating communication and
planning life-skills for adolescent youth. The Lotus Center has a very
special place in my heart and I plan on visiting once more before I move
back to the States.
Which leads me to my next topic,
I'll be leaving Mongolia in less than a month. Three years have flown by
and my experience serving with the Peace Corps has been one of the most
formative opportunities to date. I look forward to the opportunities
that lie ahead and thank God for blessing me with such a unique and
amazing journey. I'll have another post about leaving Mongolia soon.
Until then, please enjoy a few pictures from this past spring and
summer.
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Teaching about famous Black inventors |
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Teaching about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade |
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Leading a group discussion about the Civil Rights Movement with site-mate Jerome |
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Celebrating Solider's Day with my counterparts at the Children's Department |
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Meeting with the Executive Director of Special Olympics Mongolia to discuss the current state of disability rights in Mongolia. |
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Hanging out with friends Kathy and Julia. |
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4th of July celebration in UB |
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4th of July hangout with friends at Khan Deli. |
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The Lotus Center |
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The Lotus Center |
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The Lotus Center |
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The Lotus Center |
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The Lotus Center |
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Donating a full set of Peace Corps Life-Skills books. |
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Teaching my counterparts how to make pizza, carrot and chocolate cake. |
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Country director's visit to Gobi-Altai |
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From Left to Right: Me, site-mate John Boeve, site-mate Lauren Javins, Country Director Darlene Grant, site-mate Kiowa Pratt-Gordon, Kiowa's counterpart Gantuya and site-mate Jerome Leonard. |
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Celebrating the birthday of my friends son. |
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Saying goodbye to site-mates Jerome and Max as they depart for America. |
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Graduation at the medical college |
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Friends Vivian, Sondra and Byron. |
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My counterparts and I competed in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament sponsored by World Vision. |
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Celebrating a traditional Mongolian hair cutting ceremony. |
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