Taking care of more children

Bayasgalant’s vision is, one day our work won’t be needed anymore because all families in Ulaanbaatar live above the poverty line and lead a good life.

The aim of Bayasgalant for 2012 is to increase the number of children attending the day care centre and to improve the quality of this support. There are so many children and families in need in the area where Bayasgalant works.

To achieve the aim we want:

• To build a new day care centre in 2012 – to increase the capacity

• To raise an education fund – to secure the future education and vocational training of the children

• To raise a medical fund – to pay for treatment in case of medical emergencies

Lack of space at the day care centre demands a lot of flexibility from our staff

Currently the Bayasgalant day care centre is based in a small house (35m2) and three gers (the traditional Mongolian felt-tents). All activities such as teaching, playing and eating have to take place in the same small room. There is really not enough space for all the kids, especially during the cold winter months when they have to stay inside and so it requires a lot of organisational skills and flexibility from our staff.

A new and bigger house is desperately needed to guarantee the good quality of work being carried out by the staff. At the moment the kitchen is situated in a ger and all the food must be carried across to the small house. When temperatures drop below -30 degrees in winter, the food often is cold by the time it is served. Due to the extreme temperatures, often the water pipes are frozen so the children aren’t able to wash their hands. Also taking a shower often isn’t possible for the same reason. The toilets are currently located outside.

When the children are in the day care centre there is not enough room for the social worker to talk to the parents, so at the moment they have to come after the children have left.

The house we are planning to build on the actual day care centre site must have enough rooms for all of the activities required, plus an inside kitchen, showers and toilets. We hope to be able to start construction in May 2012. The construction of the house is a big challenge for Bayasgalant and any donations are very much appreciated.

If you would like to know more about the house construction or are experienced in building houses or if you would like to help in any way, please contact us. We would appreciate your support.

A good education is a way out of poverty therefore Bayasgalant wants to invest in the education of the children and so needs to raise money for an education fund.

At present the children attending are aged between 6 – 14 years old. So, soon they will need support to find an apprenticeship or require financial support to attend university.

We would like to raise US$ 50’000.- for this fund. This enables us to pay for the education or vocational training of 70 young people.

If you would like to donate specifically to the education fund, please write “education fund” with your donation. Thank you very much!

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Our social worker and the teachers often come across many different health issues. Often malnutrition is the source of a disease and not or poorly treated due to lack of money leads to more serious illnesses. Heart, liver and kidney diseases are very common , as are tooth decay and hearing problems. Bad health is often one of the main factors that leads a family into poverty , either because the medicine is so expensive or the person who earns the family’s income cannot work anymore.

When a family is so poor and needs all its money for the everyday necessities of life, pain often is ignored or a disease is treated with cheap or inappropriate medicines instead of seeing a doctor. Receiving an appropriate treatment is the privilege of the rich people who can afford to pay the bills.

Bayasgalant wants to raise money for a medical fund as together with lack of education, lack of health is the other major reason for families becoming poor and getting stuck in the poverty trap.

Currently all children at the day care centre are checked regularly by a doctor. She treats minor problems like coughs, diarrhoea, lice and small cuts on the spot and also provides vaccinations as needed. The money we pay for this doctor is a fixed part of our monthly budget. But if a child or sometimes a parent needs an operation or suffers from a serious illness, this places a considerable burden on our budget. To prevent a financial emergency and also to prevent long discussions amongst those responsible as to whether we should pay or not for the treatment or operation, we want to raise US$ 50’000.- for a medical fund.

If you would like to make a donation to this fund, please write “medical fund” on your donation. Thank you very much.

If you are medically experienced and would like to share your knowledge or have any questions, please contact us. Thank you.