Our Programmes in Mongolia
Health Care
Healthcare in Mongolia runs under an insurance system, requiring the uninsured to pay for their treatment upfront. Although children receive their insurance for free, they still require the correct documentation, which many of the poorest lack. The Healthcare Project was established in 1997 to provide the poor, orphaned and abandoned children of Mongolia with free professional medical attention and emergency care. Since then, the Project has broadened the scope of its programmes.
Education
Some of the long-term benefits of early childhood education include: fewer referrals to special education, higher grades, better social skills, and greater ability to focus. As well, some studies show that children attending kindergarten are better integrated socially as an adult, able to earn more income and less likely to commit illegal acts. In fact, evidence from long-term evaluations show that participating in early education programmes increases high school graduation rates by as much as 44 percent. This is also important to law enforcement because high school dropouts are three-and-a-half times more likely than high school graduates to be arrested, and more than eight times as likely to be incarcerated
Community Development
The winter in Mongolia is one of the harshest imaginable making Ulaanbaatar the coldest capital city in the world. Temperatures regularly remain at –30C for weeks on end, and even –40C is not regarded as unusual. As in many countries, housing for the poor is an expensive part of a family’s budget, and is often inadequate for the climatic conditions. It is not unusual for families of up to eight to live under unheated stairwells in city apartment blocks, or in dilapidated wooden huts, or Gers that are long past the end of their useful life. From the start of its operations in Mongolia our Foundation has assisted homeless families and those in danger of becoming homeless, or living in barely habitable conditions, with their housing needs.