Which help is the right one?

Day: 157

Sunrise:
09:28

Sunset:
17:19

Total kilometers:
1281

Soil condition:
Ice, snow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
minus 17°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
minus 25°C

Temperature – Night:
minus 30°C

Latitude:
51°33’336”

Longitude:
099°15’341”

Maximum height:
1981 m above sea level

Like every evening, Tsaya and Ultsan visit us again. “Tanja and I have been thinking about how we can help your people. As I told you, I am writing a book about our Mongolia expedition. As we are spending the winter with you, the Tuwa are also part of this book. “What do you think about us transferring 900 tugrik (€0.51) from every copy sold for a year, which would be around 20% of our untaxed profit, to a Tuwa account? The prerequisite for this would be that such an account exists or that you set up an account for it. However, this money may only be used for emergencies, hospital stays, medication and school education. What do you think? Would that be an idea that should be discussed with the community?” I ask.

“It’s a generous offer. We had such an account until recently. It was actually set up for emergencies. After a year, we had saved 9 million tugrik (€5,142). But it also caused arguments. Some wanted to buy a horse. Others said we don’t have a child. Why don’t we get any of it? Or I’ve never been ill. I want some of it too. In this way, the credit balance aroused the most diverse needs. It’s not easy for the administrator of such an account to distribute the money fairly and easily comes under attack from all kinds of people. Nevertheless, we kept our account. It was managed by a Mongolian woman whose name I don’t want to mention. In the second year, we asked about the account balance. “Sorry, I’m not finished with the bookkeeping. I’ll let you know the account balance as soon as possible,” she said, which is why we didn’t ask again for the time being. We worked even harder than the year before. We expected to have raised at least twice as much, i.e. 18 million (€10,286).” “A real fortune,” I interrupt her briefly. “Yes, a real fortune. When we wanted to know how much money we had at the end of the year, she was no longer there. It had emptied our account to the last tugrik and disappeared. We found out that our administrator had moved to Erdenet. She used the money to buy a motorcycle and a house. Although she is already over 50, she even got a new husband. Money gets you everything, including a husband,” she ends her story. “That’s terrible. And did you bring her to justice?” I ask in dismay. “What could we have done? Our reputation among the Mongols is not the best. They would have had further cause to speak ill of us. Perhaps we wouldn’t have been believed? People would have thought we were bankrupt. We thought we could let this case rest,” we hear, stunned. “You didn’t report them to the police?” I ask. “No.” We sit there pensively and can’t believe what we’ve just heard. It’s the same as always. The poor can’t defend themselves. A reason to steal what little they have. The thief is now sitting unmolested in Erdenet and living off the stolen money. If it really was 18 million tugriks, she has swindled a fortune equivalent to 120 monthly salaries. A Mongolian has to work 10 years for that.

Aid package

“Once we were sent a package of clothes by a tourist. I had to borrow money from my mother to have the package transported to the taiga. Once it was here, I called all the residents of the camp together. “Everyone can choose a piece. But please remember that everyone gets something,” I said. In the end, the entire contents of the box were distributed. The inhabitants of our camp took what suited them or what they liked. Then they went into their tipis without a word of thanks. I had gone to so much trouble and only Ultsan’s uncle said a few nice words to me. I know I shouldn’t expect any thanks. But it was still bitter. I was very sad and cried for a long time. Ultsan comforted me. It’s not easy to do something for the community and yet it’s important for us that something is done,” Tsaya says somewhat sadly.

Dubious NGO (non-governmental organization)

“What do you think of NGOs? Aren’t there some of them in Mongolia that are working for you?” I ask, to check another option that you can rely on. “Ha, ha, ha. Stop with NGOs. There are at least 11 NGOs in Mongolia that use our name to make money. You won’t believe it, but so far we haven’t received any money or anything else from a single NGO. They come to us, take a photo of a child without shoes, which is probably the most normal thing in the world in summer, and put it on their website. The poorer the child or person looks, the better for the NGO. They use these images to search for people willing to donate in Europe or worldwide. And they find people who are happy to help. You can take my word for it. But as I said, nothing has ever arrived here. We do not believe in NGOs. They are often just a reason to earn money but in rare cases to help. I would like to tell you a story that happened to us not too long ago.

A couple from Holland, who had been supporting one of the aforementioned NGOs for years, came to see us to see what had happened to their donations. The professor and head of the NGO, whose name I will not mention, brought a translator with him. We called everyone in the camp together and held a big meeting. “The Dutchman said: “We and many people who want to support Tuwa have transferred €2,000 (3.5 million Tugrik) per year and student to the NGO. We hope to have paved the way to education for some of your young people.” The interpreter translated the following; “We are happy to have been welcomed by you with open arms. We are surprised how warm your summers are. We would never have thought that you could ride reindeer so well. Etc, etc.” Our men and women nodded and ultimately didn’t know what the two tourists wanted from them. The professor and the interpreter had no idea that I grew up in America and speak English better than all of them put together. I couldn’t stand it any longer and told the Dutch that not a single Tugrik of the money they had collected had ever reached us. None of our students have ever seen any of it. I also blew up the whole scam and told them what absolute garbage the interpreter was translating. He then became very embarrassed. The professor started shouting and cursing at me. “I curse you forever and ever. You won’t live much longer!” he roared.

The Dutch were horrified to have been taken in by a fraudster and to have given many thousands of euros to people who enriched themselves even more.

Tanja and I sit there stunned and can’t find our words for a long time. It is simply too unbelievable and too bad what we learn about this NGO. There is no doubt that such stories could make you lose faith in humanity. And that is precisely why it is important to do something. That is precisely why it is good that we are here and experiencing reality. That we talk and write about it. Of course, everyone can do something positive in their life. However, it is important to question your actions and review them from time to time. So it was also good that the Dutch had personally inquired about the Tuwa’s condition and asked what had happened to their money. As we all know, lies have short legs. At some point they all blow up. It is important to believe in the good and to keep going. Burying your head in the sand makes no sense. That would mean admitting the bad. And we don’t allow the bad things to happen. Tanja and I are convinced that positive thinking and action help to strengthen the positive side. The more people think this way, the better. The stronger the positive side.

We look forward to your comments!