international women’s association of mongolia ...byambasuren chultem (mng) [email protected] ......
TRANSCRIPT
1 IWAM NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015
From the President’s Pen
“All beginnings are difficult”
This proverb also applies for my contribution to the IWAM newsletter. So I looked at last October’s issue for a
“starter”:
Sunday, September 28: unbelievable - a “winter wonderland” in the Embassy’s garden! Inches of snow on the fur tree
branches, a lot of birds visiting the small wooden feeding station and looking for seeds. An indication for a very harsh
winter to come? Almost a perfect match: this year you only have to change the date to September 24.
Since the last general meeting, before the summer break, 12 new members signed in – welcome to IWAM!
However, we are still waiting for quite a few old members to renew their membership. It is important to have an
actual number on November 3rd at the annual general meeting. Voting on the president’s and treasurer’s reports,
election of board members is possible only if one third of the registered members are present. In addition to end
the vacancies for the events and project chairperson, you have to elect a new president. My husband and I will
leave Mongolia next summer (end of July) for a new posting. To avoid a vacuum over months I decided to resign
already now. For now I’ll put my energy onto the organization of our Christmas fair on Saturday, November 28 at
the English School; thanks to Gillie and her husband for their hospitality! More details are on page 8, updates will
be distributed by mail.
Please think about how you can support IWAM’s goals. An association’s success depends on the input of its
members. One proposal: help to sell our calendar 2016. Take it home as a present for family and friends, show it
around among your neighbours, your husbands’ colleagues etc.
Best wishes,
Marlies Thiedemann
Олон Улсын Эмэгтэйчүүдийн Нийгэмлэг October 2015 Newsletter
International Women’s Association of Mongolia
IWAM
IWAM is a non-profit non-religious NGO, run voluntarily by its members, that brings together women of all nationalities to provide support to newcomers to Mongolia, and to assist charitable projects.
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IWAM Board 2015 President Marlies Thiedemann (GER) [email protected] Vice Presidents Byambasuren Chultem (MNG) [email protected] Beverly Rhoades (USA) [email protected] Honorary President Baljinnyam Damdin (MNG) Secretary Nomin Galsandorj (MNG) [email protected] Treasurer Nina Seiffert (GER) [email protected] Vice-Treasurer Tonga Katyush (MNG) [email protected] Membership Violeta Brown (Peru) [email protected] Events Vacant Projects Vacant [email protected] Newsletter Karolina Zygmanowska (Poland) [email protected]
Position Vacant!
Dear members (and members-to-be),
To complete the IWAM board we need support, please!
For the position of the Events Chairperson we need someone
with organizing skills being a team player (together with sub-committee
members) to develop and facilitate activities for fundraising
and socializing As the Events Chairperson you would be part of the Board that meets once a month. For the position of the Project Coordinator we need someone, who would
be responsible for facilitating the activities of the project committee
ensure that the committee assesses received proposals and selects those that reflect IWAM's objectives and keep a record of charitable causes.
As the Project Chairperson you would be part of the Board that meets once a month. If you should have any questions or would like to take over the job, please contact one of the board members or send an Email to [email protected].
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The new calendar for 2016 is available!
Price:
MNT 15.000
MNT 12.000 for IWAM members
___________
The calendars will be sold at major IWAM events like the general meetings and the Christmas Fair.
You can also let us know at [email protected] if you would like to purchase one or more. We could
arrange a hand-over somewhere.
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Evening Meeting
Our next evening meeting will be
on Thursday, October 8th
at 6.30 pm
at Café Park in Shangri-La Hotel.
A buffet will be served for MNT 35.000 incl. tax and service charge. Drinks will come on top.
After dinner Ninoska Amo, a registered Yoga therapist and instructor, will tell us about this Indian
philosophy.
Please sign up ([email protected]) until October 6th so we can make a reservation accordingly.
To encourage you to participate in our evening meetings, here are two photos showing how IWAM
members spent the last one, on September 10, 2015 .
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General Meeting in October
The October General Meeting will be as usual at the
English School of Mongolia, on Tuesday, October
6th, at 11 am (doors open at 10 for socializing,
vendors).
During the meeting Julie Veloo will be our guest
speaker. We are also going to discuss the IWAM’s
Christmas Fair.
IWAM book corner
Dear Members, Are you looking for a Christmas gift for someone who loves books, fascinating literature for your own entertainment during the long Mongolian winter? Then follow our recommendations which will now be published here monthly.
1. The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber - a New York Times notable book set in the Victoria era.
2. The Beekeepers Daughter by Santa Montefiore – a moving and mysterious tale of two women’s enduring love
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - a real page-turner about a young man whose life was torn apart by a catastrophe and who down the years clings to a small painting of a Flamish artist (Pulitzer Price for fiction 2014)
The two bookworms
Jo Perett & Marlies Thiedemann
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IWAM Interest Groups To better accommodate our members’ interests we have launched “Interest Groups”. If you have a hobby
you’d like to share with others or would like to engage in something special please let us know!
Maybe Cinema, Art, English for Beginners, Bridge, Knitting, Lunch Bunch, Hiking group, French / Italian /
Swaheli conversation group, Mother & Child Playgroup or whatever else you might think of …?
Find like-minded people through IWAM!
Please contact [email protected] if we may advertise for you.
These are the ones to start with:
HIWAM (“Helping IWAM”) Helping vulnerable mothers and their newborns Please contact: Violeta Brown, [email protected]
MAH JONGG Please contact: Nina Seiffert, [email protected]
SALSA Please contact: Violeta Brown, [email protected]
HABLEMOS ESPAÑOL (Spanish Conversation Group) Please contact: Violeta Brown, [email protected]
DEUTSCHE ECKE (German Conversation Group) Please contact: Nina Seiffert, [email protected]
PHOTOGRAPHY Club Please contact: Diane Height, [email protected]
BOOK CLUB Please contact: Jo Perrett, [email protected]
INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN CLUB
Apart from IWAM Interest Groups one of our members, Gaby Schmidt-Corsitto, offers also an opportunity to join her horse riding club. Please contact her at [email protected]
ZUMBA Please contact: Violeta Brown, [email protected]
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8 IWAM NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
1 1
2
3
4
5 Coffee Club 10.30am Millie's, west side of the Choijin Lama Museum
6 General Meeting 11.00am English School of Mongolia
7
8 Evening Meeting 6.30 pm Shangri-La Hotel
9
10
11
12 Coffee Club 10.30am Code Pâtisserie & Plus, across the street from Zanabazar Museum
13
14
15 HIWAM Meeting 10-12 pm
16 17
18
19 Coffee Club 10.30am Caffe Bene, Peace Avenue, next to Arig Bank & Flower Center
20
21 Book Club 1 pm Sachers Caffe
22 Board Meeting
23 24
25
26 Coffee Club 10.30am Bugi‘s, Cental Tower
27
28
29 30 31 Halloween Party 8.00 pm
* Find the map with locations of our monthly events on our Facebook page.
October 2015
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Visit to the Ger District Quilting Center 25 August 2015
Eleven of us IWAM ladies gathered at the Quilting
Shop on Seoul Street at 10am and we had a good
look-around at the lovely products they sell. Selenge
welcomed us and introduced the new group of
Quilting students in the workshop at the back of the
property, then gave a talk on how the Quilting
Center started. Check www.dragonflyquilts.com for
lots of interesting information on how it all began
and lovely pictures! Or google Mongolian Quilting
Center.
We squeezed into two cars with Selenge and
Violeta as drivers and set off to the World Vision
Building in the Ger District, where Head Teacher
Soso and others give lessons to Mongolian ladies
and men in the Art of Quilting.
Once a year World Vision offer their Conference
Hall for a 4-week Quilting Course and give a grant
that pays for 15 people. This year was the third
year that this course has been offered.
The local ladies and men are being taught both hand- and machine-quilting, using hand-cranked
machines costing 200.000 MNT in the market. Learning to quilt by hand is a great way to keep busy
during the cold winter months and keep boredom at bay! And no outlay for a sewing machine! It's a pity
that only one 4-week Quilting Course per year can be offered at the present time in the World Vision
Conference Hall. It would be marvelous, if the Quilting Center had more permanent premises so many
more ladies could be taught.
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Soso has been with the Center for eleven years and
together with other teachers given many lessons to
help unemployed women, single mothers and
disabled women to earn an extra income for their
families. They also help out at the National Cancer
Center teaching mothers with cancer-suffering
children, a very worthwhile effort. And now men
are also interested in learning how to quilt, which I
think is fantastic! Some teachers travel away to
different aimags to teach quilting skills to the local
women and they stay for a month at a time. This service is much appreciated out in the countryside by
the local people!
To expand the business more sewing machines are needed to teach more local people. Selenge needs
more donations to cover costs of transport and accommodation for teachers travelling to the countryside
and to buy supplies for the Center and is hoping local banks will help. There are many skilful
seamstresses in Mongolia, who learn to sew from their mothers. Most women make deels for the family
members and the most talented ladies make really beautiful quilted products. Many families will have
scrap material left after making deels and quite a number of women, who have attended the courses,
have started making wonderfully decorative wall hangings and pictures for their own gers or to give
away as gifts to family members and friends.
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The Best Quality products made in the Ger District and the Seoul Street Quilting Center, Selenge will buy
and sell in the Shop and also at the State Department Store.
After our tour we all returned to the Quilting Shop to buy some of the beautifully quilted items as gifts or
decorations for our homes. Lunch then followed at the California Restaurant in Seoul St, a nice get-
together to finish a lovely day out with Selenge meeting the Ger District ladies and one man!
Let's hope there will be more Government Grants and more donations from local banks to help Selenge
and all the ladies to a better future!
Kinna Mills
12 IWAM NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015
Visit to the International Intellectual Museum
I was very interested to go see what was in the
International Intellectual Museum besides the
famous large chess set, but I didn't expect to
actually have fun. There were 4 of us on that day,
and the guide let us play, I mean, try and solve
various puzzles and games - some of which sent
us straight back to our childhood, like the Cat's
Cradle pictured in the photos. The English-
language guide was very professional, taking us
from floor to floor (4 in total) explaining about
the exhibits, demonstrating solutions to some of the puzzles, and even showing us some magic tricks.
The founder of this first private museum in Mongolia is a very talented Mr. Z.Tumen-Ulzii (whom we
didn't meet). He created and hand-made the bulk of items on display, including some of the very
impressive puzzle chest sets. In addition to those, the museum houses interesting items from all over the
world - toys, puzzles, gifts, certificates, photos with visiting dignitaries, and more.
The museum shop has many of their puzzles and other interesting souvenirs on sale (a silver puzzle ring,
anyone?), priced lower than in State Department and other stores.
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The museum is well worth a visit. It takes around just over 1 hour, but we did it in around 2 - we got
happily distracted a bit longer than necessary by some of the games.
Their English guide works every day, but just give them a call in
advance to make sure she's in.
Their working hours are Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to
18:00; accepting last visitors at 16:40.
Price:
adults, foreign - 8,000MNT
adults, Mongolian - 6,000MNT
Children - 2,000 to 6,000MNT depending on age.
Please keep in mind that you will be asked to leave your bags in the locker, to protect the glass displays
from accidental damage.
You can find out more about the museum from their website or facebook page.
Bileg Erendo
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15 IWAM NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015
Bake Sale Thank-You!
Dear students of the ESM,
Thanks a lot for your donation of MNT 20.000 that you have earned with
the bake sale at last month’s GM!
The money will go to one of our projects and help needy people.
Well done!
Did you know?
16 IWAM NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2015
Dear Members,
Items for Newsletter
Our newsletter comes out in the beginning of each month. If you would like to place an item in the newsletter, please email [email protected] by the 25th of the month for the next month’s issue. If you would like to place an advert, the costs are as follows:
Personal items for sale - No charge to paid members Business Advertisements - 10,000 MNT payable in advance per issue Charity Advertisements - 5,000 MNT payable in advance per issue
IWAM Membership For membership information, please email [email protected]
IWAM online - visit our website http://www.iwammongolia.com and our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/IWAMongolia
IWAM bank details:
International Women's Association of Mongolia Trade and Development Bank Account nr. 404182174 (MNT) / 404050408 (USD) SWIFT: TDBMMNUB