Site Visits

In an effort to be more transparent, as well as increase peer support, our post has decided to allow PCVLs and second year volunteers to go out on site visits and participate in site development.  I was unable to go in the fall (home leave) so I was super excited when Zorigoo, the Central Region and Health Program Manager, asked me to go with her this Spring. 

We departed from UB, went up to Darkhan, over to Orkhon Aimag (Erdenet City), then through Bulgan Aimag up to Khovsgol Aimag.  We spent 15 days and 14 nights on the road, visiting the volunteers who live in those aimags and developing sites for M23 extendees, M25s (the cohort coming this June) and even M26s/M27s!

For safety & security reasons (as well as confidentiality in case any of you M25s are reading this!), I won't post the exact locations we traveled to, but it was extensive.

It was awesome to spend time with the 13 volunteers who live in those areas, hear about the amazing work they're doing and, of course, socialize.  It was encouraging to see the first year volunteers flourishing and bittersweet to reflect on two years of service with the veteran volunteers.  But the really informative and enlightening part was to participate in site development.  When an agency submits an application for a volunteer, our Regional Managers have to interview them at least twice.  The first one is a preliminary visit in the spring to assess the agency, interview them (why do they REALLY want a volunteer?) and check out the community.  The second, after lots of meetings in the office and granting approval, is for housing checks in the summer.  Proximity to UB means some agencies can get another in-person visit, while the rest get follow-up calls.  While I couldn't do much but observe the Health and CYD potential agencies, Zorigoo let me take the lead on the standard line of questioning for the TEFL placements.  This way, we could informally assess their language abilities and gauge their interactions with a PCV.  There were two sites that especially stole my heart; I can't wait to hear if an M25 goes there!  After the "Why do you REALLY want a PCV?" line of questioning finishes, Zorigoo has to give each site a quick lesson on diversity (that they could get a PCV of any gender, color, religious background, etc) and our new Sexual Assault Policies.  She also goes over the housing requirements and safety & security.  If the agency agrees to it all and has a solid case for why they need a PCV, their application gets reviewed at the placement meetings that happen in the office in the late spring.  They are notified in early summer, and the second round of visits begin.  If housing passes muster, voila!  PCV placement.

I had a general idea of this process, but seeing just how in-depth the interviews are (hours and hours!) and just how many people are involved (not just potential CPs but directors, supervisors, key community members and even government officials) was very reassuring.  PC definitely does their homework before sending a volunteer to a site.  Sure, sh*t happens, but I truly believe PC does the very best they can, contextually, when selecting a site to receive a volunteer.

Below are some pictures, taken in the order we traveled back.  We drove straight to Khovsgol from UB, then did our visits on the way back Southeast.

 The horses in Murun, Khovsgol.

 Huh, thought I was in Murun, not on Lake Sturgeon!

 Driving to a soum (village).  Dang Mongolia, why you so beautiful!?

 Observing a volunteer's lesson.

 Coming back from a soum, the view of Murun.

 Some of the Khovsgol volunteers, and a visiting PCV from UB.

 A volunteer and her CP during a health seminar, demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver. 

 Mongolish (what we lovingly call English-Mongolian speaking clubs) in Murun.

 Sadly, this restaurant in Murun was closed.  I really wanted to see if they had chicken!

 No road? No problem!  Follow the power lines!  This is somewhere in...Khovsgol? Bulgan?

 Just such a beautiful country!

 The soum we stopped to spend a night in, in Bulgan.

 There were horses everywhere we drove!

VOLCANO!  In Bulgan.

 Observing a volunteer's lesson in Erdenet.

 Observing a volunteer's lesson in Erdenet.

 Observing the Film Club in Erdenet.

 The super gross waste "lake" just outside of Erdenet city in Orkhon aimag.  For more on the mine that causes this waste, check out this Wiki.

And the mine itself (taken when I visited Erdenet in June 2012).

 Loved seeing all the gers dottting the countryside; this was somewhere in Bulgan aimag.

 Ducks on a pond!  Spring has finally arrived!

 And because Spring had arrived, this was the muddy mess we drove though every time we would visit a soum.  (We slept in the aimag centers and drove out to the various soums every day.)  Thanks to our amazing driver Chuka, we never got stuck!

Even though I had been to many of these places before, it was still a trip of a lifetime, getting to see the wide open countryside and, of course, all the visits.  Grateful to PC for affording me yet another amazing opportunity!