Like the people of many cultures around the world, Mongolians show their hospitality and appreciation for the people in their lives with food. There are numerous traditions in Mongolian culture surrounding the serving, offering, and receipt of food and drink, and each of them reminds us of the gift of being able to give and receive.
During Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian observance of the Lunar New Year, many of these traditions are central to celebrations and the ringing in of a bountiful year. Families spend tremendous amounts of money on preparing food to welcome guests, so that no one ever leaves a home hungry. But what is Tsagaan Sar like for the families that struggle to put food on the table on a normal day?
Last year, a group of foreign and Mongolian volunteers raised funds and gathered donations of food to fill boxes with Tsagaan Sar
essentials to give to economically vulnerable families in Ulaanbaatar and just outside of Darkhan in Nomgon soum. Social workers helped the volunteers connect to the families most in need, many led by single mothers, elderly, and parents with disabilities keeping them from being able to work. Over 50 families were provided with boxes filled with flour, rice, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, aaruul, boov, and other items that help make a Tsagaan Sar feast.
This year, some of 2015′s volunteers were joined by many more new ones in Ulaanbaatar, and 80 families were given boxes of food and more for the 2016 Tsagaan Sar Food Drive Challenge. The challenge was met with help from individual donors who brought in food items and local companies who donated tremendous amounts for the challenge volunteers to distribute.
The coordination of donations was led by B.Munkhtsetseg at Porsche Ulaanbaatar. The company was the headquarters for donation drop-offs in the city and provided transportation for deliveries of boxes to families. With help from B.Odgerel from InfoMongol.mn, volunteers Erin Eidenshink, A.Enkhkhuslen, Susan Durrant, B.Enkhjin, and N.Dorjpalam, word of the Tsagaan Sar Food Drive Challenge was spread through personal networks, social media, websites (in English, Mongolian and Russian), and food and cash donations were collected from friends and family in Mongolia, the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
Donations of food and much more poured in from Shangri-La Hotel, Wagner Asia, the American School of Ulaanbaatar, Cafe Tree, Areva Mongol LLC, Porsche Ulaanbaatar, ING Bank, and Teso Corporation. Suono Lounge & Karaoke hosted a donation drop-off event in the city center. These individuals and companies generously helped collect enough food and money to deliver full boxes to 80 families living in Songinokhairkhan District of Ulaanbaatar, neighboring one of the city’s landfills where many families forage for food and resources.
The Veloo Foundation’s Children of the Peak Sanctuary staff and volunteers worked to coordinate the gathering of recipient families, and also rounded up donations from the foundation’s giving partners. Donation delivery day was scheduled for February 2, to give families plenty of time to prepare for the holiday with their gifts of food. The Children of the Peak Sanctuary staff and volunteers hosted the event, where the recipient families were able to meet some of the challenge’s individual donors and the team from Porsche Ulaanbaatar. Gifts of meat and buuz were handed out, in addition to the boxes filled with Tsagaan Sar staples, and Wagner Asia donated a new television and other items to the sanctuary. When the boxes had been handed out to those who didn’t require a home delivery, children nearby helped their elderly neighbors carry heavy boxes filled with food and staples back to their homes.
Food drives are a common community giving project in other parts of the world, but they are still fairly unusual in Mongolia. Cultural beliefs and Mongolia’s socio-economic past can be challenging in organizing local charitable efforts, but when they come together successfully, they are tremendously rewarding for all involved.
B.Munkhtsetseg from Porsche Ulaanbaatar spoke to the UB Post about her experience with the Tsagaan Sar Food Drive Challenge.
Have you ever participated in an effort like this before?
Yes, we at Porsche Ulaanbaatar do these kinds of efforts from time to time. Previously, we were working with children at the Narnii Khuukhduud Kindergarten of the Veloo Foundation and with the kids from Lotus Children’s Centre. We’ve donated books and some necessary physical training and entertaining items to the kids, and we also play, cook, have fun with the kids and take them on tours of the city. It is not only about giving the kids food or things. It is about making them feel they are in a happy social environment. They should never feel different. Even for families in need, to make people happy, it is something, you know? It is what we need for a happy life. Me, you, and everyone else needs to care for one another. We enjoy ourselves doing this as well.
What were the biggest challenges for the food drive?
We were trying to bring cheer to as many as families as we could, because Tsagaan Sar is the biggest celebration for Mongolians. Traditionally, what you have for the first days of the new year, and what is happening in your life, determines the course of your whole year. It does not have to be real, but it is a good omen, a nice feeling. So, now we have helped about 80 families have a good day and a good feeling for the new year, celebrating it like others do.
We are all happy about what we have done. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in this challenge with donations and help.
What was the biggest reward for being a part of the food drive?
Being part of this challenge itself is the biggest reward. Seeing someone happy because of you, and because of what you did for them, makes you happy. I think everyone is the same by nature, and many people were supporting and inspiring us to do this. This is what it is, good fortune.
What advice can you give to people who may want to take part in or coordinate projects like this?
If anyone wants to be part of this kind of charity, I would say go ahead. People should care for each other in the ways that they can. Of course, we cannot care for or always give everything. Do what you can. It is better to give someone a hand when they are in a time of hardship, than giving them help when they are strong and capable.
Also, this was a volunteer project, and something that came together through teamwork and wishes to help others, essentially. So, I would like to say help each other and care for each other.
We are strong when we get along with each other and live in harmony. I wish for everyone to have a good new year, and send best wishes in the Year of the Monkey.
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