Rich cultural legacy

I participated in a two week workcamp in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, teaching English at a local high school. It was my first time to Mongolia, and it was an amazing introduction to the country and culture. The volunteer group stayed in an apartment near the school, where the seven of us slept on mats on the floor and took turns sharing cooking duties. The students we worked with had a high level of English, which made it a very fun project. We were able to have a lot of interaction with conversation activities, games, and music. We spent the second week doing presentations. Each volunteer talked about their home country and the students were split into groups that presented on different aspects of Mongolian culture, such as food, traditional dress, holidays, sports, music, etc. It turned out great!

On the weekend, the entire volunteer group pitched in to rent a van and went to the Little Gobi Desert to stay with a nomadic family in a yurt. I will never forget riding camels in the moonlight, or staring up at the river of stars in the night sky.

In addition to teaching, we also visited an orphanage, and went to several important cultural sites.

I particularly enjoyed working with the same students for the duration of the project. We really got to know them well! In all, this was a great volunteer experience!