A cure for loneliness
Dolgor’s face lights up as a group of visitors enter her ger. At 80, with no family nearby, she suffers from acute loneliness. Or at least she used to, before Munkhtuya, a Red Cross volunteer from Ulaan Baatar, began visiting her regularly.
Dolgor calls Munkhtuya her ‘daughter’ and is very close to her. “She is so good to me,” Dolgor enthuses. “I used to have no company at all, but now I am so happy. Munkhtuya visits me every week and brings me so many things.”
Mongolian Red Cross
When migration to the city takes place, traditional family networks that would act as a safety net are disrupted and the Mongolian Red Cross steps in to fill the gap, particularly with assistance to vulnerable elderly people.
Dolgor is a good example of this. She had two children; one passed away and the other lives far away in the countryside. The local Red Cross branch wanted to support Dolgor, but it took a long time to track her down because she was constantly being forced to move.
This is common in Mongolia, where the law can make it difficult to establish land ownership and the most vulnerable often don’t possess the necessary knowledge to secure the land they are entitled to.
Prize delicacy
Dolgor is over the moon to be visited and she thrives on the company. She whispers excitedly to her ‘daughter’: “What should I talk about? Maybe they would like something to eat?”
Suddenly she remembers a prize delicacy, a boiled lamb’s head prepared earlier, which she enthusiastically offers to her guests. Nothing goes to waste in Mongolia, where food prices have more than doubled in the past year.
Dolgor’s face lights up as a group of visitors enter her ger. At 80, with no family nearby, she suffers from acute loneliness. Or at least she used to, before Munkhtuya, a Red Cross volunteer from Ulaan Baatar, began visiting her regularly.
Dolgor calls Munkhtuya her ‘daughter’ and is very close to her. “She is so good to me,” Dolgor enthuses. “I used to have no company at all, but now I am so happy. Munkhtuya visits me every week and brings me so many things.”
Mongolian Red Cross
When migration to the city takes place, traditional family networks that would act as a safety net are disrupted and the Mongolian Red Cross steps in to fill the gap, particularly with assistance to vulnerable elderly people.
Dolgor is a good example of this. She had two children; one passed away and the other lives far away in the countryside. The local Red Cross branch wanted to support Dolgor, but it took a long time to track her down because she was constantly being forced to move.
This is common in Mongolia, where the law can make it difficult to establish land ownership and the most vulnerable often don’t possess the necessary knowledge to secure the land they are entitled to.
Prize delicacy
Dolgor is over the moon to be visited and she thrives on the company. She whispers excitedly to her ‘daughter’: “What should I talk about? Maybe they would like something to eat?”
Suddenly she remembers a prize delicacy, a boiled lamb’s head prepared earlier, which she enthusiastically offers to her guests. Nothing goes to waste in Mongolia, where food prices have more than doubled in the past year.
Story taken from http://www.redcross.org.uk/standard.asp?id=84627
