Contributor: Julie Koehler

Ms. Tsegee and Ms. Maamuu stand in front of Ms. Maamuu's ger. Photo: Photo: Julie Koehler/Mercy Corps

Ms. Tsegee has an infectious smile. I first met her in the Mercy Corps office I am visiting here in the Western Mongolian Province of Uvs. Ms. Tsegee was dropping off her community group’s required progress report after winning a grant from us to build an income generation business for herself and three other women. Ms. Tsegee is about 60 years old but speaks and interacts with the youthful exuberance of a woman half her age.

In Mongolia they call her a very ‘energetic’ woman. I call her inspirational. Ms. Tsegee heard about the grants being offered to community groups just over a year ago. She quickly recognized the opportunity and formed a group of women with shared expertise in sewing and signed up for the training in order to apply for the grant. All of the women have something in common…they all care for a disabled relative or are themselves struggling with a disability.

In Mongolia a majority of people still live in traditional yurts, or gers, used by the nomadic herdsman for centuries. Genghis Khan is famous for having had his gigantic ger carried on his campaigns pulled by a team of horses. Even though many modern Mongolians have stopped living the nomadic lifestyle, they have not abandoned their gers. Instead gers are now organized into neighborhoods in all Mongolian cities, from the Capital Ulaanbaataar that is 1 million strong to this provincial capital in the far west that boasts a population of about 10,000.

Today I arrive at the ger of the other senior member of the community group, Ms. Maamuu. I duck to enter as the doors to these domed yurts are about shoulder height. Ms. Tsegee and Ms. Maamuu usher our group to the couch on the left side of the circular room and introduce us to Ms Maamuu’s husband who lays in a bed on the opposite wall. Ms. Maamuu’s husband is bedridden from a disability and requires constant care. Ms Maamuu’s eldest daughter is also there; she is a tall thin woman in her early 20’s who is also a member of the community group. After receiving a steaming bowl of fermented cows milk and having a bowl of candy and a plate of biscuits placed in front of us, the women are ready to talk about their project.

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