2026 July

Children coming and going

In 2018 Purewdorj came to live in Anna Home together with his two older sisters Budgerel and Anudari. He was 11 years old. His sisters outgrew the house a longer time ago. This is how we saw him grow up:

Now he has graduated from the college in Choibalsan. He became an electrician and hopes to build up his life independently. He now lives with one of his sisters.

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About six years ago Surenjav lived in Anna Home. He stayed for two years, until his grandmother took him into her house. He is back, things did not go well at home, he is now 14 years old. We hope that he can continue to grow up in the stable environment of our house.

Bachelors

Together with her sister Uuriintsolmon, Uuriintuya came to live in the house in 2015. In May she obtained her bachelor’s degree exam in business administration at the university in Ulaanbaatar! Of the three years that the study lasted, she spent one in Japan to gain international experience. In September she will start the master’s program in a financial direction. She lives together with her sister, who studies nursing.

Ganzorig also obtained his bachelor’s degree. He studies law at a university with ties to the army and the police. Hence his beautiful uniform. He also wants to continue studying and is thinking about human resource management as a major. Next to his studies he does a lot of taekwondo, kickboxing and other martial arts. He wins beautiful prizes internationally with this.

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School diplomas

Also in high school there is often something to celebrate. Passing the ninth grade is an important moment. Some children go on to follow a vocational training from there, other children, like Aminerdene, continue to the tenth grade. Chinguunee reached the tenth grade and celebrated that. Both children came to Anna Home at a very young age, they were two years old. I am adding an old photo to the festive photo.

Visit from the Netherlands

Two weeks ago Charly, her mother and her grandfather visited Anna Home. Charly, 8 years old, wrote the following about her experiences:

On Sunday 21st of June we had the wonderful experience of visiting Anna Home. As soon as we arrived, I couldn’t wait to meet everyone. I immediately ran upstairs to play with the children. We had so much fun together! They drew lovely pictures for us. Everyone at Anna Home was so kind, friendly, grateful, and funny. Even though we had only just met, it felt like we had been friends for a long time. When it was time to leave, I didn’t want to say goodbye. Visiting Anna Home was my favourite part of our whole 3 week trip to Mongolia, and I will always remember the cheerful children we met there. Thank you for making us feel so welcome. I hope we can come back next year and stay longer!

Taekwondo

Twenty years ago I got to know Boldsaikhan in his Taekwondo school, in the basement of my flat. He still teaches this sport intensively and some children in Anna Home participate with him. Chinguunee and Ganchinges even traveled to St Petersburg in May, for international competitions. (Dear donor, do not worry, none of your money went to the warmongering Russia, there was a local sponsor who paid for everything). They won many medals!

Finances

Since a few years we received a contribution from the Mongolian government. That was aimed at healthy nutrition and was accompanied by all kinds of requirements that increased the costs. The amount corresponded to a small € 20,000 per year. Every year Boldsaikhan had to apply for that again by sending in countless documents. For 2026 our application has been rejected! We are doing our best to get a review of this judgment, even the honorary consul of the Netherlands is making an effort for it, but the prospects are not favorable.
The Mongolian economy is going through difficult times. Inflation is currently at 11.2%, for food the prices even rose by 23.4%. We increased the salaries of the staff in Anna Home quite drastically in January, but it does not seem to be enough yet. Boldsaikhan reports to us that some ‘teachers’ walk away because they have to work too hard for too little money. He has a hard time finding enough suitable people.
In short, these are difficult times. Fortunately we have a buffer, so that we do not immediately end up in big problems, but such a buffer is of course finite. I find it a scandal that Mongolia is now falling back again to doing absolutely nothing about the problem of children who are left on their own. The laziness with which they count on foreigners to get the job done should lead to collective Mongolian blushing.
The positive news is that we are in conversation with a Mongolian bank that might start contributing from next year.

Maarten