Aid to underprivileged children in Mongolia

Mongolia lies between Russia and China and is almost fifty times the size of the Netherlands. Yet the country has less than 2.5 million inhabitants. A large part of the population is nomadic, lives in tents on the steppe and depends on livestock farming.

At the beginning of this century, the country was hit by a terrible natural disaster. For three years there was hardly any rain in the summer, so the grassy plains were scorched and the cattle could not build up fat reserves, while the winters were extremely harsh. Due to the heavy snowfall, the emaciated cattle could find little or no food. Millions of animals perished and tens of thousands of shepherds lost their only means of livelihood. Their poverty is still poignant after all these years.

In a similar disaster in 1944, victims could still use the collective facilities that had been set up by the communist party, but since the introduction of democracy in 1990, the social safety net has disappeared and the nomads are left to fend for themselves. Families fell apart, shepherds committed suicide or took to drink. Thousands of them gave up nomadic existence and tried to find work in the villages or towns. Often in vain.

Homeless children

In the vast and sparsely populated steppe, the resulting poverty, exacerbated by corruption, the corona pandemic and the rising cost of living, is having disastrous consequences for children.

Many of them have lost their parents, been sent away because there was no more food for them or fled to escape domestic misery - hunger, alcohol abuse and violence.

Some have been taken to the capital Ulaanbaatar, where the chances of survival are somewhat better, and left there on the streets. Hundreds of children lead a lonely and wandering existence.

They try to scrape together on rubbish dumps, do odd jobs for a few pennies and beg or steal if necessary to survive. Although temperatures of more than 25 degrees below freezing are quite normal in winter, they are hardly protected against the cold, so they can lose fingers and toes to frostbite. Many of them are severely traumatised and die from cold, disease and malnutrition.

Only a few children are lucky enough to be taken care of in an orphanage where they receive basic help, ie food, clothing and shelter.

The Steppekinderen (Steppe Children) Foundation

As a foundation we work with a small group of volunteers. After several years of supporting a shelter for street children in Ulaanbaatar, which functioned so well that a second home could be opened in another city, we set up several small-scale aid projects to improve the lives of a lot of underprivileged children in a different way. At the moment we mainly focus on providing assistance to poverty-stricken parents and carers of children who are or are at risk of becoming homeless.

Under the guidance of our employee in Ulaanbaatar, we have strong, traditional felt tents with a wooden frame and a stove built for these families, so that they have a safe shelter for years to come, regardless of the weather. To date we have donated 26 gers (Mongolian tents).

We have opted for a small-scale setup, so that our employees can fully oversee the aid project and we can guarantee that every penny is spent on the goal.