Out of Mongolia

Many are cold, but few are frozen 
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September 5, 2009

The First Whiff of Pollution

 

           
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My street, my home

Today I drove way out of my comfort zone to Sukhbaatar District, which is in the northern part of the city. It's considered a ger district, though most people there live in small houses.

I was with Lee Lawrence, a freelance journalist who is also my dad's wife. She's interested in the work of the Urban Development Resource Center (UDRC), an NGO which works with local neighborhoods to improve living conditions. They do it by creating a savings collective in a single neighborhood. The act of making small, daily contributions to a collective fund knits the residents of a street together, a big accomplishment for people with independent, nomadic roots. They use the savings to improve their neighborhood and make small loans to members.

You can see the difference. All the gates are painted bright blue. Each home has a little mailbox and trash can. Newly-planted trees line the street. One street even had a narrow sidewalk. The daily contributions of 100 tugrugs a day per household (about 7 cents) add up, and actually make a difference.

For some reason I like being in ger districts. I like their simplicity, their roughness. I'm impressed by the people who so recently moved to the city from the countryside, who first live in their gers, then save up and build houses. Conditions are harsh, but I have the feeling they'll keep improving their situation.

It was chilly today. I saw a truck delivering sacks of raw coal. You could see smoke coming out of chimneys, and smell the first whiff of pollution which will soon grip the entire city.

 

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Filed under  //   Ger districts   Pollution   Sukhbaatar   UDRC  

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July 8, 2009

Life in the Ger Districts

                                       
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Bayangol District, Ulaanbaatar

Yesterday I went to a ger district on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar to take pictures for the World Bank's East Asia & Pacific Blog. A friend of mine, Gerelchimeg (who is my favorite waitress in the coffee shop at the Grand Khan Irish Pub) took me there and showed me around. She also made me a nice lunch of eggs, fish, and black bread.

Life is difficult in the ger districts. There is no piped water or sanitation, and few paved roads. People have to buy their water in water kiosks and carry it long distances to their homes. They burn wood or coal for cooking and heating, which leads to terrible winter pollution. I hope to increase awareness of this problem in the hopes that more will be done to tackle it.

You can read the full post at this link: Mongolia's growing shantytowns.

 

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Filed under  //   Bayangol   Ger districts   Housing   Pollution   Ulaanbaatar  

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December 23, 2008

Pollution for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

The winter air in Ulaanbaatar is hard to imagine. It is basically a thick blanket of smoke spewing out from the stoves of thousands of people living in gers, which are traditional Mongolian homes made from wooden frames covered in felt. Raw coal is the main fuel, since it is much cheaper than wood. Traffic and power plants play their part too, but it's the smoke from the gers that makes breathing such a challenge at this time of year.

Half a million people in the city live in the ger districts. They are mostly poor; recent migrants from the countryside in search of better lives. The poorest cannot even afford coal, and burn whatever they get their hands on.  Even garbage and old tires. Just think of what's going into the air.

Ulaanbaatar in May (top) and December (bottom)

From a distance, you can see a yellow-brown band smothering the city. Above it, the sky is clear and you can see the mountains and a bright, blue sky. But within the band, everything is swallowed in toxic darkness. Driving into it fills you with dread.

You can't blame people for trying to keep warm in winter. But what a price. Breathing that stuff 24/7 has got to be tough, especially for children. I wonder what the long-term health consequences will be. Not good, I'm afraid.

Fortunately, the issue is getting a lot of attention now. Improving the quality of life in Ulaanbaatar is a pillar of the World Bank's strategy for 2008-11, and dealing with pollution is a part of it. Let's hope it works.

The high price of electricity

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Filed under  //   Gers   Mongolia   Pollution   Smoke   Ulaanbaatar  

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