Edinburgh Area Scouts International Expeditions

 

Temuulel Centre for Street Children   When this project was first seen by the advance party it was immediately obvious to them that this would be a project worth doing, with a lot of hard work required and a lot to be benefited by everyone ‑ children and Venture Scouts. The centre, run by a German and up until this year partly funded by the European Union, is home to about fifteen children aged between six and sixteen, although a lot of them seemed a lot younger as they were small and under‑nourished. The funding has mostly been from outwith Mongolia and looks like drying up and the manager is naturally worried about the centre's future.   The centre is situated on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar at the end of the trolley bus line in amongst a shanty town. Even getting to the project was an experience, driving through some of the worst potholes in the world, in fact we felt it would have been easier if the remaining bits of road had been taken away! When it rained it was even more perilous, especially when water started coming into the bus from the underside. If you arrived on the trolley bus it felt like you were coming to the very last reaches of civilisation. The bus was always packed with enquiring faces staring at you, with young children offering seats to the funny white men, and there was always the chance of an unexpected conversation in English with the person standing next to you.   The project involved renovating an outhouse at the centre into two workrooms, one for woodwork, and metalwork and the other for sewing. The work required was extensive; everything from plastering and rendering the outside walls, to stripping and re‑felting the roof, decorating inside and outside, building work surfaces and cupboards. One of the most difficult jobs was painting the rooms and the outside walls. The paint available usually originated from China and was of poor quality; two pots, allegedly of the same colour, were rarely a good match. These problems did not dampen the creative spirits of the team and the external walls now brighten a very dull area. One wall has a large mural of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, complete with tartan tammy, and another has a giant snakes and ladders board, with a spinner fixed to the wall so that it can be played. The 'Scottish Scouts' will long be remembered in that area of town.   Working alongside the children from the centre also helped to keep interest in the project, as they were always willing to help out, picking up tools whenever someone put them down or jumping down the sewer to switch on the water tap for us. We even had a couple of mascots, two dogs who came looking for Rich Tea biscuits every day, although they (the dogs, not the biscuits) mysteriously disappeared towards the end....   The final result certainly surprised us in how good it looked compared to when we started. Many people even found hidden artistic talents that they never knew they had. The smiles on the children's faces at the opening ceremony certainly seemed to say that they were delighted with it.

Top of Page

Top of Page

Top of Page

 

Scout Headquarters   Prior to our expedition the national headquarters of the Scout Association of Mongolia (SAM) was based in a rented room in a government building in the centre of Ulaanbaatar. With the unstable political situation, SAM was unsure if they would always have accommodation. They had, however, been given the opportunity to purchase a flat at what they considered to be a good price, but they were not in a position to pay for the property and renovate and furnish it to turn it into offices. After much discussion the Scottish Venture Scouts decided that a permanent office was extremely important to the running of the Scout movement in Mongolia and agreed to contribute half the cost of purchasing the flat, then to renovate it and furnish it as an office.   There was a great deal of work required to bring the flat up to a suitable standard. Work carried out included stripping the walls, filling in the holes, painting the woodwork, fixing broken window frames, re-glazing and finally wall- papering and laying linoleum.   There were various problems encountered while doing this. The plaster that we were using to fill in the cracks and holes was drying too quickly and was therefore not taking hold properly due to the humidity and heat in Mongolia. This is where having some of the Mongolian Scouts and leaders working with us was invaluable as they showed us how using a little linseed oil in the mixture slowed down the drying process to stop this happening. We were unable to transport gloss paint in the container from Britain so we had to buy this in Mongolia. This proved to be very difficult to find.   We eventually completed this project the day before the opening ceremony and everything in the offices looked great, particularly with the furniture, which we brought in the container, in place. We were delighted to leave SAM with its own National Headquarters, where they will have two permanent members of staff working full time and will be safe in the knowledge that these offices are their own and no one can take them away from them. We hope that a lot more Scottish Scouts will pass through their doors in the future.

Top of Page

 

EASIE Home Page

Copyright © 2002 E.A.S.I.E.