2024 March
A new boy
Dawaajargal’s mother is unemployed and homeless. The local government asked us to take care of him, and we do! He is 7 years old and has never gone to school. So he has to try to catch up on that.
The mothers
One of our “mothers” gave birth and a second one took on another job. We now have two new mothers:
Nadmin, 28 years old. She graduated from the local university as a social worker. Erdenesaruul, 34 years old. She studied linguistic history at the same university.
In addition, there is Solongo, who has been with us for many years. She now takes care of her sick father and is temporarily replaced by Baigalmaa, the mother who has worked with us since the start of Anna Home and has been retired for a few years.
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I have often written about our assistant mother Urantuya and her husband Olziibayar, Anna Home’s cook. They both grew up in our house and now work there, while they live on the site of the old, burned down Anna Home. They had their third child.
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Uulziibat graduated
Since 2018, Uulziibat has been studying law at the university in Ulaanbaatar. First for his bachelor’s degree and now, in January, he obtained his master’s degree, the best of his year! His major is described as “Law Enforcement”. He lived in Anna Home from 2006. This is how we saw him grow up over the years:
Finances
The annual report of the Mongolian Foundation is ready. You can read it here. A few things stand out. The total costs for the house and the transition home were more than € 51,000. These have increased enormously, especially in the last three years. For comparison: in 2010 the costs were € 28,000. On the other hand, the Mongolian government has contributed for the first time this year. We received € 5,800 and we expect a higher amount for 2024.
Miscellaneous
We received a visit from the representative of the human rights commission for eastern Mongolia. We’re going to work with him.
They all celebrated Tsagaan sar, literally: the white month, the Buddhist new year. It is a festival with many traditions. The photo shows the children visiting Boldsaikhan’s mother.
During the winter holidays the children did all kinds of chores, played in the snow and celebrated their birthday.
Travel in January
This newsletter mentioned a few times about a trip to Anna Home in 2024. We just won’t make it. We have now definitely decided to go at the beginning of January 2025. At least three members of the board will then go and we cordially invite everyone to travel with us. It is then the coldest time of the year, count on -15 C. during the day, but also the most beautiful time of the year. The sky is usually dark blue and the sun shines a lot. At night you can see spectacular starry skies if you leave the built-up area. We imagine spending a week in Choibalsan. At that time, for those who want, we could organize a trip to the countryside with one or two nights of sleeping in a ger, far away from everything. Primitive but spectacular with many animals and many stars at night. Some have registered for a trip in July 2024. We are sorry that this cannot take place. It would be a good idea to register again if you want to come in January. Planning such a trip takes some effort and that is why I would like to start it in time. So please don’t wait too long before giving up. In any case, it will be a very special trip, to places where almost no Dutch person ever goes.
Maarten