2024 September

Taekwondo, international competition

I have written before that Taekwondo is very important to Boldsaikhan and to some of the children. And now there was a big international youth competition in China! From July 24 to 28, four nationalities participated: China, Russia, Inner Mongolia (which is actually part of China) and Mongolia. Boldsaikhan went there and took four children from Anna Home, one student from Ulaanbaatar (Ganzorig) and his son. The competitions were in Manzhouli, in the city of Hulunbuir, which is considered the largest city in the world in terms of surface area. The city is located near the border between Russia and China, and the border with Mongolia is also not far away. They met other people there and were amazed by the big city. And they all won medals! Purevdorj won two silver and one bronze, Azjargal won gold and silver, Chingunee silver and bronze, Ganchimeg two silver and Ganzorig two gold and one silver. Boldsaikhan’s son also won several medals. A great success! As Boldsaikhan writes: “This is our success and it shows how the children are growing up with good physical condition, strength, endurance, alertness and health.” He also writes how special it was for them to meet children who lead a “normal” life and to discover that they are just like themselves.

Ordinary life

Mongolia has long summer holidays for schools. There was plenty of time to take good care of the vegetable garden, to play and to repeat some lessons from school.

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And also to celebrate Naadam, the most important holiday in the country. Хуушуур you eat then, “huushuur”, a double-folded pancake of dough, filled with meat and then fried. And there are competitions in wrestling, archery and horse riding. That is two days of enjoyment.

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From the neighbouring province of Sukhbaatar came a visit from the child protection department. They wanted to get to know Anna Home.

Summer camp

This is what Boldsaikhan writes about it:

“The summer vacation was successful; we had fun and adventure with our teachers and children during the vacation in the centre of the province from August 25-30,  during which we organized various competitions in the fresh air. We divided our children into three groups and placed them in five houses. As usual, we did our morning exercises, had breakfast, organized various fun competitions such as training, basketball, volleyball, football, skipping rope, jigsaw puzzles, etc. Our student E. Ganzorig came for the summer vacation. He helped his younger brothers during the vacation and rested together with them. This summer it rained a lot and it was difficult to travel far, so we organized a vacation close to the city. There were a lot of mosquitoes, but it is very important that we give our children rest every year and refresh their minds. We would like to express our gratitude to all of you who always work with us to brighten the future of children with warmth and warm hearts. It is wonderful to see children grow up healthy and safe. May good deeds spread more and more.”

New student

Sumyasuren graduated from class 12 of high school. She also received a gold medal from school for her sports qualities. Now she is going to study at Zasag University in Ulaanbaatar, she chose “Graphic Design”.

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Trip in January

A group of 10 people is preparing to visit Anna Home in January. It will be a special, fun, very cold trip to the emptiness of the steppes. A few more people could join this group, but you have to register immediately. We will soon turn the plans into action.

Maarten