Many live on the streets, forced to beg, steal or resort to violence just to live; or survive the sometimes -40˚C freezing winters by living in ‘The Underground’, a system of steam pipes running from the central pumping station, providing heating to the homes of those wealthy enough to pay. Cramped and unsanitary, many Mongolians die each year from hypothermia, malnutrition, infection and disease.
From our humble beginnings in David’s Cave, providing warm gurs, food, work and life skills training, MongoliaCare has developed into a broad restorative work, encompassing Life Skills training in Men and Women’s prisons, a national radio programme spearheading a collaborative effort with the Government to address Domestic Violence, vocational training and small business initiatives.
In 2005 we began our first project on a 2330 m² parcel of land in the Gur district on the outskirts of the Capital. Over the next seven years we saw it grow from the initial three families and three single men accommodated in three gurs and a small home, to over 150 men, women and children in twenty gurs and a large three-storey home, a large all-weather workshop, kindergarten and medical centre. The project was handed over in 2012 to a separate Mongolian NGO and through some support from local government and establishing a successful Cabinet-Making and building business, it is operating successfully.