Thursday, August 18: It's good to be back

After a long night on the train from Sainshand, Karen and I are finally back in UB. And back to all of the comforts and luxuries we usually take for granted. We have electricity, running water, internet – all at the same time! Wow!

After discussing some of our experiences over breakfast with Scott and Dale back at the Puma Hotel, I relaxed and soaked in every minute of my warm shower. Then we scheduled naps until 1pm.

From 1-5pm, we worked hard putting together our report for the Mungun Biileg Credit Union. What a good feeling to have finished putting our thoughts to paper, to help guide the credit union in their growth.

Dinner was delicious (and spiced) Indian food at the hotel’s restaurant.

Tonight I will get a good night’s sleep, so that I can recharge for tomorrow’s presentations.

-- Ramune Jonusonis

Wednesday, August 17 - last day in Sainshand

Today was our last day in Sainshand. We had a meeting with the members in the morning, where Karen and I spoke and encouraged the membership to become more involved in their Credit Union.

What was truly inspiring was the ideas that the ladies attending put forth: how they would like to help the less fortunate in the community, and how the idea of donating to community groups has really taken root in their minds.

This is what makes it worth it! We planted the ideas and they are embracing them.

-- Ramune Jonusonis

Tuesday, August 16: "Camping"in the hotel

I’m almost getting used to the constant alarm sound coming from the elevator. For the second day, the hotel does not have electricity or running water. When the power does come back on, it’s only at 11pm at night. So we’re essentially camping out… in a nice hotel…

Today was our second day working with the Credit Union. We met some more of the ladies on the committees and discussed some more ideas for them – including the Canadian practice of giving back to the community.

After a big dinner at a local restaurant, the ladies of the management team had “some entertainment” planned for us…. And it came in the form of a private karaoke room at the back of the building! I’ve never seen so many women having so much fun! Karen and I were serenaded and entertained by both traditional and pop Mongolian songs… sung by the Board of Directors and other ladies from their Lending and Supervisory Committees! What a night! My cheeks still hurt from smiling.

- Ramune Jonusonis

Monday, August 15: Ramune and Karen meet with the Mungunbiileg CU

Today we had our first session with the Mungunbiileg CU. Karen and I met with three ladies from their Board of Directors: Inkchin, Tumro and Soogee (I apologize in advance for my feeble attempts at spelling Mongolian names).

They presented the history of their CU and some of its structure. The remainder of the day was spent asking more detailed questions about their practices and procedures, membership base and future plans.

We began relaying some information which they found particularly interesting: promotion of children’s savings accounts, risk-rating models and risk-based pricing.

Working in Mongolia is a funny thing. Although Tuul is doing a fabulous job, I am sure that some things get lost in translation. For example, Karen or I will say 1 sentence and then Tuul will translate, speaking for 2 or 3 minutes. Alternately, we will ask a question, Tuul will relay it to the Board. The Board will then discuss it rather passionately for 5 minutes, and Tuul will respond “Yes” to us. It’s hilarious to think about, sometimes.

After a brief tour of the Sainshand city post-dinner, we went back to our dark hotel rooms. The electricity had been out since approx. 1 pm. So, to keep ourselves busy, we did some yoga. Tuul was interested and wanted me to show her some of the yoga that I do back home. So Karen supervised and commented on our form (from her water yoga experience), while we wriggled and balanced and downward-dogged in my candlelit room. Considering the A/C wasn’t working, it was a pretty good replication of a hot/moksha yoga experience!

-- Ramune Jonusonis

Sunday August 14: A watermelon farm in the Gobi Desert

Today we woke up at 3am and left the hotel in a mini-van, together with a few of the ladies (+ friends, grandmothers, children) from the Credit Union – whom we had met last night. In typical Mongolian fashion, our entire entourage turned out to include approx. 15 people altogether!

We bounced through the desert for 2 hours, while my head bobbed in and out of sleep. I wasn’t sure if we were merely driving until the sun came up – or heading for a specific destination. Eventually, we arrived at the foot of a large hill. There was a sacred path of prayer that led up the 100’s of stairs to the top, dotted with “ovoos” (shamanistic rock piles where people pray). We had 10 minutes to climb before the sun was expected to rise at 5:30am.

After a few quick stops and rests, we made it to the top – very slightly out of breath. As the sun was beginning to peak out from beyond the horizon, we made our offerings at the ovoo – including cookies, birdseed and (you guessed it) a few shots of vodka for good measure.

Although the morning wind was cold and sleep was still tugging at my eyelids, the view was spectacular and definitely worth the climb! We stood at the summit for 20 minutes and took photos, then began our descent.

Midway down the hill, we burned incense and made wishes – as is the custom.

At the base, we all piled back into our 2 vans and continued onto the Khamariin Hiid Monastery further in the desert. We had a tailgate breakfast of sliced sausage, cucumbers and bread – which were a welcome change, since we had strictly been eating various combinations of rice and mutton for the past week.

After a tour of the World Energy Centre, the monastery and various stops at the holy caves, we drove to a nearby ger (aka “yurt”) tourist camp which is owned by one of the CU members. We were escorted to the deluxe brick ger. And it really was deluxe. It had 2 plush sofas, a king-sized and single bed, a television and a mini-fridge – in addition to a private bathroom with plumbing! Definitely a tourist ger rather than the typical types we had seen in the villages.

However, we were happy to be told that we were there with the sole purpose of napping. So nap we did. After 2 hours we were called to have lunch in the central building: “buuz” (mutton dumplings) and mutton noodle soup. Afterwards, we chatted with some of the CU’s ladies’ daughters in English. It was good practice for them, and it was nice for us to get to know our new set of friends in Sainshand.

On our return trip to the city, we made one last stop at a farm. That’s right… there is a farm smack dab in the middle of the Gobi desert! A few in fact. The one we stopped to walk through was predominantly a watermelon farm. Mmmmmm… my first piece of fruit since we left UB. It was mouth-wateringly delicious!

-- Ramune Jonusonis

Saturday, August 13: Travel day

This morning we left Ugtaal and drove the 80kms to Choir in a Russian “Jeep”. Unfortunately, the Russian Jeep broke down. Fortunately, it was within the last 5kms of the trip. We were on the outskirts of Choir – and the driver’s wife’s sister was able to come pick us up. She is, very conveniently, a taxi driver in the town.

Our 3:30pm train left on time.

And 5 hours later, we were in Sainshand. It is a much bigger city with more of the amenities we North Americans are so used to. For example, I was elated to be able to enjoy running wayer (and therefore, to shower) for the first time in 5 days. And having internet access again is certainly a bonus as well.

Nonetheless, our experience in Ugtaal was very positive and we are forever greatful to the people of the town for welcoming us so warmly into their community! We are truly lucky to have been able to experience their culture - and roughing it certainly made us appreciate all of the luxuries we take for granted in our day-to-day lives.

Tomorrow, we will be waking up at 3am to head out to watch a Gobi desert sunrise…

-- Ramune Jonusonis

August 11: Trapped in a Mongolian wedding

Today we had a more relaxed day planned for us.

In the morning, after a breakfast of rice and mutton (surprise!) and milk tea, we walked through the village – our unofficial “tour”. We saw 2 gas stations, the governor’s greenhouses (which is why the odd cucumber and carrot has appeared on our plates, from time to time), the local hospital, school and bank.

What struck me as odd is the number of abandoned buildings. For example, the governor’s offices recently built a new building (which is where we have been having our meetings with the CU management) for its offices and abandoned the old building across the road. There is also an abandoned restaurant a few doors down.

Additionally, we were told that the majority of post offices in Mongolia’s smaller villages are now going bankrupt – because of the widespread us of cell phones. Everyone has a cell phone! Even during our meeting with the CU’s management team yesterday, it seemed as though someone’s cell phone was ringing or beeping or buzzing every few minutes.

So I expect there will be an abandoned post office in the near future as well.

After our tour, we were due to attend a wedding ceremony at 11am. The bride and groom’s parents were CU members, and had invited us to participate. So Karen and I were dressed up in “dales” (traditional Mongolian attire) and driven over to the parents’ home with Tuul.

During the first day of the ceremony, only the close family attends. The entire ceremony takes place inside the family’s ger (which I imagine was specifically built for the wedding, since they also owned a small brick home) and approx. 80 people all cram into the small tent to watch, eat, drink and sing throughout the entire day.

When we first got there, a long procession of gifts was flowing into the ger. Every family attending traditionally brings a cured sheep to give to the young couple. And when I say “sheep” I mean “sheep” – the entire sheep, and nothing but the sheep. The whole sheep is carried into the ger on a large wooden board, with the head resting on top. When we first poked our heads into the ger, we must have seen 25 sheep laid across the floor on the left side. The right side was filling quickly with other gifts: flat screen TV’s, rugs, glassware, ceramics. Someone later mentioned that they had brought a washing machine for the couple, but it was too big to bring into the ger.

We had to wait until the gift-giving was over and everyone had arrived before the cermony was to begin. After an hour of sitting in our car, we were told to again enter the ger. By now, all of the sheep and gifts had been cleared out and there were some benches and small stools set up to accommodate the guests. We got prime seats, near the front of the ger – behind the bride’s mother.

The ceremony began with a blessing of the ger. A man chanted traditional words and gently touched the walls, ceiling and floor of the ger with a sheeptail-staked stick. Then there was some traditional singing. The entire time, a few girls were passing bowls of airag around to everyone. We would sip our of politeness, and pass our bowl back to the girl.

--Ramune Jonusonis

August 10: Ramune and Karen meet with their Mongolian CU

Ramune Jonusonis

Today was a busy day.

I went into the meeting with the “management group” of the credit union this morning without knowing what to expect. There was a short introduction by one of the Board’s representatives, after which Karen and I essentially had the floor.

We asked many questions in our attempt to get a better understanding of how this particular CU functions and where they feel they need help. As it turns out, they were hoping that our consultancy would be more of a formal training session for their Board, lending committee and supervisory council.

But, without a set agenda in front of me, I found it hard to gather my thoughts and ask specific questions that flowed with some sort of theme.

Luckily, Karen was seasoned enough from last year's experiences and did most of the talking at the outset. I became more comfortable later in the afternoon, but still took a backseat – allowing Karen to navigate the overarching themes.

Essentially, there are some difficulties which the credit union is facing – because of their circumstances in Ugtaal. For one thing, they have a lot of cash to work with. But since the majority of their members are “financially capable”, they do not have much loan demand.

Nonetheless, Karen and I have already begun thinking of some of the recommendations we can make.

Tomorrow, we meet the membership…

-- Ramune Jonusonis