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Young German Volunteers Discover Mongolia

10/11/09November 10, 2009

Many German youngsters don't want to start university or work right after leaving school. They prefer to take some time off to discover the world and themselves - and many like to do something useful at the same time. For example with the German Development Ministry's volunteers service "Weltwärts" - which means something like "world-wards", or "into the world". Last year, more than 2200 young people went to Asia, Africa or Latin America as volonteers as part of this programme. This year, the figures will double. Since September, the first volunteers have been serving in Mongolia's capital Ulan Bator.

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A street child living in a manhole in Ulan Bator
A street child living in a manhole in Ulan BatorImage: DW/Eva Mehl

A road junction at the centre of Ulan Bator. Blowing his whistle and waving his baton, a policeman is trying to bring some order into the chaos of old Russian cars, new small Japanese cars, luxurious SUVs and Korean-made buses which are all bent upon passing through at the same time.

"So many impressions have really been overwhelming in my first two weeks here", says Stefan Schulze. "Food culture, people's looks, their behaviour. Everything is so different - the traffic to begin with, which you cannot compare to Germany. It's a major event to cross the road here every time."

20 year old Stefan Schulze is from Leverkusen near Cologne. In September he moved to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia. "I work at the Lotus Children Centre. It is an orphanage for street children and other orphans. Mostly I teach English there."

Education is the field where most volunteers are posted in the "Weltwärts" programme. More than 200 German institutions are taking part in the programme. The Development Ministry pays about 600 Euros per month for each volunteer. Stefan Schulze was sent to Ulan Bator by the German Development Service or DED. He is one of 16 youngsters there. Claudia Polzer who is in charge of DED work in Mongolia says that in Ulan Bator, too, most of the volunteers work in the education sector. For the DED, one thing is important, she adds:

"To find partners who speak German or English. Which is not such an issue in Ulan Bator, there are many Mongolians who speak one of these languages. Our volunteers don't have a translator with them. So at least some people in the partner organizations need to be able to communicate with them."

Bridging the language gap

But the Germans are also expected to do their bit to overcome the language gap. 18 year old Peter Benedikt von Niebelschütz explains: "In our introductory week we also had a crash course in the language - every afternoon a couple of hours of Mongolian. I've remembered and mastered at least the numbers, the phrases for greeting and goodbye - and directions."

Basic Mongolian also comes in handy for communicating with the host families, where most of the German teenagers stay. In Stefan Schulze's family, not much English is spoken -- which he sees as an advantage: "It's quite good. I've met so many Mongolians and my Mongolian is slowly improving."

Confronted with poverty

About his expectations from his first year in Mongolia Stefan Schulze says, "gathering many new experiences and broadening my horizon by seeing the world beyond the industrial countries!"

Which also includes some rather unpleasant sights. 21 year old Maria recalls an irritating experience: "Yesterday I saw something not so nice, a man climbing out of a manhole, because they live down there."

Ulan Bator, as the coldest capital of the world, is criss-crossed by underground heating pipes. About 10,000 people seek shelter in the tunnels every night. Many of them are street children -- like those whom Stefan Schulze is teaching English now.

Author: Matthias von Hein / Thomas Bärthlein
Editor: Grahame Lucas