The last day in Mongolia
We bought lots of souvenirs in the centre of Ulaanbaatar in the morning, and then had a dinner in a restaurant later with the staff from Save The Children and also members of a child protection programme, who were mostly children themselves.
The programme is to protect children from violence, abuse and neglect. It also helps to get families back together but this is difficult with street children because soon after the hard of work of reuniting the child with his or her family, it is likely for the familiy to have problems again, and the child is soon living out on the street once again. A viscous cycle. The members of the child protection programme had done a survey and written a report on child protection in Mongolia. We had a quick look at the report and all of it was extremely shocking. When i read how high the figures were for sexual and physical abuse I had to hold in my sadness and anger. It’s very good that attention has been brought to this sensitive issue by the child protection prgramme, and i really respect them for all the work they have already done, and the work they will continue to do to make a difference to children’s lives.
In Mongolia Save The Children UK are handing over to Save The Children Japan, partly to do with the recession, as less people are donating or are donating less money in the UK. This just means Mongolia will be recieving donations from Japan instead of The Uk, as the people working for Save The Children in Mongolia will be the same, and the same projects, including the one to help disbaled children will continue.
The flight home was long, especially because we had to wait for ten hours in seoul to get the next flight to london, but we got home safely, happy to see our family. Saying goodbye to Philippa was upsetting because we’ve had such a fantastic time with her, but we are sure we will see her again sometime.
Back at Home
As soon as i walked into my bedroom I realised how much stuff i have that i really do not need! I compared this to the first family we saw, who lived in a room smaller than my bedroom, with 2 beds between the 3 of them, with few possessions, and living in poverty. I felt absolutely aweful. I’ve now decided I am going to raise as much money as i can for Save The Children to help people living like the first family I’d seen.
I’d like to thank Save The Children for this amazing and lifechanging experience- I’ll never forget it:). I’ve learn’t so much going to Mongolia. It has really encouraged me to help people more. It has made me really understand how privaledged we are, and made me become more thankful for the basic things we have such as water, food and shelter. I’ve learnt that it is impossible to help absolutely everyone in the world that needs help, but we can still help some of them. I admire everyone from Save The Children, and people who work for other charities and organisations, for the amazing work they do, which changes lives dramtically.
I’d like to thank everyone that’s been following this blog! Thank you for all the comments! I’m so pleased by how many people have been interested in what we’ve been to see, and I really hope you have been inspiried by this project as much as I have:)
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