The four-day Magic Bag campaign takes place at the end of every December to assist families in need of immediate help. Last December, the campaign kicked off for the seventh year in a row, with 180 volunteers of Lantuun Dohio NGO distributing gifts, donated by 250 people, to more than 8,000 children of nine districts of Ulaanbaatar and Tuv Province with the additional help of 40 locals. Based on research, the NGO visits the most vulnerable.
Every year, I look forward to becoming a “snow maiden” (Winter Father’s helper) and embarking on this journey of sharing gifts, love, and hope. But this year, from my own experience and the impressions shared by other members of Lantuun Dohio, I realized that life in ger areas, especially on the outskirts of the city, has become more heartbreaking than ever before.
The first day of the campaign was greeted by an endless gray smog in Ulaanbaatar, a city that is described as “happy” by officials. We split into 18 teams, packed our presents, and drove to our assigned districts at 8:00 a.m.
The district my team visited was Songinokhairkhan, the most populous district in the city. As we drove north from the city center, the smoke increased, limiting the visibility. It proved that city officials’ statement that air pollution in Ulaanbaatar had been reduced was false.
We went to the outskirts of the Bayankhoshuu ger area. There were a few unfenced gers at the top of the mountain. Our car was sturdy, so we went up the mountain without any problem and checked whether there were any children there. We found a ger with a pile of rubbish and a few coal briquettes in a rusty frying pan lying outside. When I went inside the ger, a man who had just been called to work was getting ready to leave. He was leaving four small children at home with their mother. The father apparently didn’t work full-time and only gets to work whenever he is called. The mother had recently given birth, so she had been taking care of her children at home.
The young family said that they could afford to buy food and firewood only with their children’s money and allowance for mothers, which are both provided by the state. Sometimes her husband works on a construction site, picks nuts and does electrical work, but only when he can find such jobs. We made a record of their situation and prepared a gift. We had bags of gifts, book sets, immunization bundles, and warm clothes in our truck. As their home was very cold, we gave the children coats, hats and scarves.
Their six-year-old son was very happy to meet our Santa Claus/ Winter Father and earnestly asked for a smartphone, if possible, as his gift for next year. When Santa asked why he wanted a smartphone, the boy answered that he wanted to join his online classes but couldn’t because his family didn’t have phones. We left with heavy hearts, regretting that we could not do more to help ensure equal rights and the right to education for every child.
As I entered the next ger, one woman was lying alone in bed. Her home was very cold and untidy, with several bottles of vodka lying around. When asked if she had any children, she said angrily, “My children are in the neighboring ger in the north.” When we prepared our presents and entered the ger, there were six children from two families. They rejoiced when Santa came in, and some took their best clothes out of the closet. But the neighboring woman’s three children were very silent. There was no light in their eyes, and they looked sad. I had the opportunity to talk to the oldest – a 13-year-old girl. She said in a low voice that her parents had lost their jobs because of COVID-19 and that her parents occasionally drank alcohol.
Later that day, we went with B.Azzaya, a psychologist and director of Magic Mongolia 1 Center, to see children who had previously stayed at the center’s shelter. We were also greeted by a situation where parents neglected their children and kept them cold. One of the girls could not even talk to Santa because she was shivering from the cold. Most of their parents are alcoholics, who have no fixed job or income and rely on welfare. However, it seemed that the children suffered the most due to this situation. The government is only helping such people through welfare policies.
B.Azzaya said, “If family’s living conditions are poor and the parents are alcoholics, children are more likely to be physically and emotionally abused. There are cases where children are subjected to negligent violence and are unable to exercise their basic rights.”
After a few visits, the sun rose and the smoke began to subside. We met a lot of children carrying coal and water. They weren’t wearing gloves, scarves, hats, or even winter coat or boots. When asked why they wore only shirts, summer slippers or sneakers outdoors in the cold of winter, most said they had no warm clothing. We dressed them in warm clothes and helped them deliver water and coal to their homes.
Most of the homes we visited were freezing, didn’t have fuel to make a fire, and had no food. Officials reported that the average monthly household income reached 1.2 million MNT in the third quarter of last year. They claimed that the living standards of households were increasing, but in reality, people’s lives are deteriorating.
We have seen many people unable to provide their children with warm clothes and healthy food on a regular basis. This is the living conditions of the people with whom I could meet during the two days I was there. Many more are in worse situations. Teams from other districts shared other heartbreaking experiences of families living in difficult conditions on Lantuun Dohio’s Facebook group.
Member of the NGO P.Buyan-Ulzii commented, “People’s lives have become very difficult. The middle class is getting poorer. I met a lot of people who say that they can hardly find stable work. In Bayanzurkh District, there was a family with three children aged three, nine and 10 living with their bedridden grandmother. Their father did not want to talk much. Their home was very chaotic and cold with the coal container empty and bottled water completely frozen.”
Former Head of Lantuun Dohio Ch.Ganjavkhlan posted on his Facebook account, “Two little children used to live near the Tsagaan Davaa landfill, and I occasionally went there to see how they were doing. They are always together in a ger that is not fenced. Today, as part of the Magic Bag campaign, I went to check on them with my snow maidens first. But no one was home. There was a bottle of vodka and frozen food lying about. I asked people who might know them, but no one knew where they had gone.”
He later updated that he found the two boys and that their life was still hard. All of these cases show that people’s lives are not getting better, but worse, especially amid the pandemic and its challenges.
“There was one girl with burns on her legs. She suffered severe burns but did not receive medical aid. I almost cried when I saw it, but I tried not to cry next to her,” one of the volunteers mentioned dejectedly.
The previous administration of the capital declared that it would implement the “Happy City” program from 2016 to 2020 to make the city smoke-free, stress-free and respectful of its citizens. According to the plan, developed by officials who live in comfortable apartments and have luxury cars, Ulaanbaatar should have become a “happy“ city without traffic jams, smoke or stress. The city administration informed that the program was 92.5 percent complete. Yet children are still starving and suffering in this smoky, congested and unhappy city. Are officials truly not aware of this? Only when every child has a smile on their face Ulaanbaatar can be called a “happy” city. We need to address these issues that dampen our everyday life. We don’t need big promises of turning Ulaanbaatar into “a leading country in Asia”.
Speaker of Parliament G.Zandanshatar noted that Mongolians must fully enjoy their constitutional rights and freedoms. He said that human rights should not be violated anywhere. But not all the good words that politicians say come true. The authorities need to visit ger areas and see for themselves whether the basic rights of people living in the suburbs are being violated!
The right of children to live in a healthy and safe environment is being seriously violated in ger areas in so many ways. In addition, these visits have confirmed that children from low-income families have practically no access to education. We live in such an unfair society, but not all hope is lost. Many people are working together to make it better and I hope more will come to aid.
