After communicating with a Rotary club in Ulaanbaatar for the past few weeks it seems as if we will be able to lend a hand in building a kindergarten some 430km south of the capital, by supplying the funds needed to purchase all outfitting materials!
After successfully completing a well project to provide residents of Bulgan province, Mongolia with clean drinking water, Rotary International District 3450’s (Hong Kong, Macau, Kowloon, and Mongolia) Bayanzurkh 100 club in Ulaanbaatar is now working with Prison Fellowship Mongolia to raise funds in order to construct a kindergarten. Although Bulgan province is very remote and sparsely populated, there is a prison in the area that provides employment for some of the local families. The unfortunate thing is that the people that live and work in the area have no place to educate their young children. One of the local Rotary clubs is hoping to change this.
The plans have been drawn up, and everything is set to go. They just need a bit more money to make thing happen. Because of the abundance of inexpensive materials and labor in Mongolia, the entire project—inside and out—will only cost around $10,000US. The Rotary club of Bayanzurkh 100, located in Ulaanbaatar, has succeeded in raising money from the community and securing pledges from the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing. The problem is, unless the club raises the money to purchase materials for inside the school (computer, chairs, desks, etc.) the embassy will have to rescind the offer.
Upon hearing this I pledged to help them in whatever way we can. I immediately went to the West Bloomfield Rotary Club and asked them to sponsor the project so that we could better work with the club in Mongolia. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the idea, and now it is an official club project.
We don’t have much time left, but I’m confident we can do it…with your help.
Of course I’ll be taking a slight detour so that I can visit the area. If you help us out you will be able to see where your money is going and meet the families that will benefit from it!