I was on Spin 103.8 FM’s lunch time news show today, talking about the barrier free tolling on the M50. The audio file can be downloaded here.

I spent today traveling back to Ireland, leaving Ulaan Baatar at midnight Dublin time and arriving home (without my luggage) at 9 pm after layovers in Moscow and Heathrow.  I really can’t wait to get the keys to one of those government jets.  My bowels aren’t feeling the may west today.  Not sure whether to blame the Mongolian food or Aeroflot.  As I traveled back to apartment in Castleknock, I really saw the green grass on our open spaces and roundabouts for the first time.  I noticed the dozens of people who were out for a walk.  I had forgotten how fortunate I am to live in a country with a temperate climate, fertile land, functioning institutions, a productive economy, reasonably well-run public services and politicians who, despite their many flaws, are motivated more by patriotism and community than by self-interest.

I spent this morning saying goodbye to my work colleagues at the NCHD and had my exit interview with Alison back at the VSO office. Alison is a fascinating person. She spent most of the last eleven years in Mongolia doing development work and raised her three young children in country. She is one of the few international people who speaks Mongolian and has considerable local knowledge. It is disappointing that so many diplomats, development workers and foreign contractors spend so long in another country without learning its language and really embracing its culture.

In the afternoon, I headed off to Terelj National Park to see a little of the countryside before returning home. Due to flooding from the heavy rain, it took much longer to get to the camp than planned. It involved going off road for almost and hour and crossing five creeks. We spent an hour or two mountain biking and watched a goat being slaughtered before meeting the horseman’s family who owns the Ger we were staying in. It has got really cold in the last few days. The horseman’s family all sat in darkness huddled around a wood fired stove the Ger. It occurred to me that they would spend most of the next six months doing little else except for the younger children who will have to go to boarding school for the winter. In the West, it is easy to romanticise nomadic and tribal life. In reality, it’s a rudimentary existence and we should not condemn them for moving to the cities in search of a more comfortable and modern life. We should accept the reality of urbanisation in the developing world and should tailor our development policies to help manage it. …[more]

Today, I made my debut on Mongolian television at press conference that was held jointly by VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) and the NCHD.  I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by news crews from three different television stations and was even more surprised that one of the stations aired it live.  Must have been a slow news day in Ulaan Baatar !  The purpose of the press conference was to promote the work of VSO in Mongolia and to raise the profile of the NCHD’s work in promoting public health.  In that sense, it was a great success and I was delighted to have contributed it to it.

Mongolians are fascinated that Irish politicians are prepared to spend some of their time volunteering and it has certainly impressed many people that VSO is able to count members of parliament among their volunteer corps. I spent the afternoon speaking to pHD students about public health strategies and then went to dinner on the outskirts of the city and I managed to find some time to answer a few constituency queries by e-mail.  …[more]

Yesterday, I visited the Christina Noble Foundation’s clinic and ger village on the outskirts of the city. The Christina Noble Foundation is a UK based charity with strong Irish links. Christina lives in Lucan and was a street child in Dublin in her youth. The foundation in Mongolia is headed by Eamon Thornton, another Dubliner. He has been in Mongolia for the past eight years. All of the other staff are Mongolian.

I was really impressed by the work that is being done by the foundation. They provide services to hundreds of street children including a school, well equipped medical clinic, an education programme in the children’s prison and a team to tour the manholes providing food and clothing to children who live between the street and sewers. The Ger village houses about sixty children who have run away from home, were orphaned or have been abandoned by their parents. Each ger is headed by a homeless woman employed by the foundation. …[more]

Last night the rain came. It started as a sand storm, then came the downpour. It is still raining twelve hours later. I got soaked on the way to work this morning. The streets are flooded and their is water in the creek. Finding an umbrella in one of the driest countries in the World is no small task. Eventually I managed to find a shop that would sell me a raincoat, albeit, one designed for a Mongolian sized body.

It’s been relatively quiet today. I am spending the day preparing for a press conference tommorrow and writing a report on my activities in Mongolia. This afternoon, Dominic and have been invited to visit the Christina Noble Foundation’s Ger Camp for street children and tonight we shall attend a dinner with the newly arrived volunteers from the United Kingdom and the Phillipines.

Today I made my presentation to the NCHD staff on communicating health issues, health advocacy and effective lobbying politicians. We followed it up with a workshop in which they came up strategies to tackle the problem to Hepatitis A infection in schools due to poor sanitation, propose solutions and sell those solutions to politicians, the public and the media.

One of the groups came up with a business case showing that a public health campaign and improved sanitation in schools could be achieved at only 20% of the cost of treating the preventable Hepatitis A cases. Another showed how MPs could be brought into the campaign through their personal foundations thus providing a means for them to buy into the project and allowing them to take some credit for the sucess. It was all very encouraging. The fact that some Mogolian politicians run their own charities and foundations to gain public support, however, was interesting news to me! …[more]

This morning I made my presentation on public health policies in Ireland and Mongolia to the staff of the NCHD. It stimulated an interesting discussion and I think it was generally well received. I worked with Glen, a VSO vounteer from the Philippines for the remainder of the day on a presentation on effective lobbying and advocacy which I shall present tomorrow. We are also organised a work shop for the staff on lobbying and advocacy on health issues.

On my way to work every morning I pass through Sukhbaatar Square, the main square in Ulaan Baatar and then on to Peace Avenue, the main thoroughfare. Architecture can tell you a lot about a country. Sukhbatar square is home to Mongolia’s new parliament house replete with a massive statue of Chingis Khan who has become post-soviet ongolia’s cultural and political icon. The airport, main hotel, the best beer and most popular vodka are called after him.

The square is also home to a number of new buildings that remind me of Dubai and Tokyo including the proposed new Hilton. There are few chains in Ulaan Baatar. There is no McDonald or Burger King, no Starbucks, no HSBC, no Citibank, no Marks and Spencer. The only international hotel group is the Kempinski and the only nternational clothing store is Addidas which opened an outlet last month. I sense this is all about to change.

Further down Peace Avenue, I pass by the statue of Lenin and the headquarters of the governining Mongolian People’s Party (former communists). It was burned down in riots which followed last month’s election which many opposition supporters claim were rigged. Opposition deputies have refused to take their oaths and parliament has yet to meet.

Outside of Ulaan Baatar, the landscape is dotted with Ovoos. These are stone cairns with prayer flags on top. The tradition is believed to have started with the great Timerlane in the middle ages. You are supposed to add a stone to the cairn for every person who you wish well. You must then walk around the ovoo three times and bless the air and yourself with some vodka.

Mongolia is not a religious country but has a strong buddhist heritage. The Dalia Lama lived in Mongolia at the turn of the century and last monarch, the Bagdh Khan, was the king and the chief buddhist lama. There are a number of monasteries around the city. They were closed during communist rule but have since been revived. Shamanism remains an important part of life in some parts of Mongolia.(I have put a number of other photos up in the gallery section of this site)

I am at the end of my first week in Mongolia. It’s been extremely busy. At the moment, I am finalising a presentation that I will make to the staff of the National Centre for Health Development (NCHD) comparing health
issues in Ireland and Mongolia. I am going to concentrate on some of the areas in which we have had success in improving public health including road safety, action against smoking and improved environmental protection. I am also going to take the opportunity to tell them a little about Ireland, a country unknown to most people in Asia.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit some of the the district medical centres outside of the capital. These are essentially family practices and are staffed by doctors, nurses and traditional medicine practitioners. There are a small number of in-patient beds for expectant mothers and patients admitted for convalescence. They are reasonably well equipped but often there is a problem maintaining a regular water supply.

I am starting to learn at little bit more about how medicine is practiced in Mongolia. Some of the practices are a little strange and very different to home. There is a huge reliance on interventions rather than consultations and investigations. Almost all patients expect to get an injection regardless of their complaint. Treatments include vitaminisation which involves drawing blood, mixing it with vitamins and then injecting it back into the patient. …[more]

It is my fifth day in Mongolia and I am just about to start my third day working at the National Centre for Health Development (NCHD). The NCHD is a government agency which has a number of functions including gathering health statistics, promoting public health, licensing doctors and hospitals (public and private) and organising professional exams. There are about sixty people working in the building which is a former doctor’s residence. My main partners are Dr Oyun and Dr Sodompil. They are both medical doctors and speak excellent english and have studied abroad. The office is modern and generally very professional.
…[more]