Australian architect Greg Cowan went to the Mongolian Capital, Ulaanbaatar in August, to work as the architecture teacher trainer at the independent Construction Technology College, (www.ctc.edu.mn).
Mongolia is a developing country, with 40 per cent of its total population of 2.7 million people currently living below the poverty line. 34 per cent of the population depend directly on livestock for their livelihoods, and a further 26 percent is indirectly dependent upon livestock. With 33 million domestic animals, Mongolia is known as a 'land of livestock'; most of the population are traditional nomadic herders. Huge sections of the population continue to live in Gers, the traditional felt circular dwelling of choice in Mongolia for more than 1,000 years.
The AJ is publishing extracts from Cowan’s reports on his experiences in the country, as he comes to terms with a new country and its educational needs. To see more, go to http://nomadologist-nomadology.blogspot.com
For the last few years in London, I have been volunteering at my local section of Crisis Open Christmas, that great institution which shelters and entertains thousands of homeless people every year. I was wondering what to do now that I am a full time volunteer in Mongolia, and with so many homeless people in Ulaanbaatar.
