Making a Difference

Investigation
We are starting a new unit in technology. During the last two weeks, our ninth grade class has visited the ger district to learn more about our community. On the first visit there, we had a tour around the area and took photos of what we thought was interesting. We saw how people built the fences out of anything they could find and burn anything they could find in the winter time when it cold so cold they could barely stand it. It was hard for them to get water. I thought there would be a well where everyone would have to go and get their water. Instead, there was water station where they all had to go to and one litter of water cost 1 tugrug. At first I thought it was very cheap for anyone, but when I saw how they people lived there, I realized that I it was only fair for everyone. Because so many people lived in that area, they had to bring water to the water station every morning. Not many people had the water carrying trolley, so people had to carry their water all the way to their house. It was easier for the people who lived close to the water station, because they could carry as much as water as they wanted, where on the other hand the people who lived all the way up on the hill couldn’t carry as much as water at they wanted, for they had to carry all the water by themselves. This process could get extremely hard in the winter where in Mongolia; it can reach to 30 below 0. Just like in any other countries, women had to take care of the household, when men are out looking for money. We saw little kids happily skipping as they went off to their school. A cinnamon bun cost 300 tugrugs, when in the city you couldn’t get it for less than 2000 tugrugs.
An average family had about from 5 to 7 kids. To provide their children with food and shelter, the parents would do anything. In the winter time, a mother would do anything to keep her family belly-full and warm. Some families would run short on money for a while they would burn things such as old shoe, weeds, paper, cheap coal. It pains me to think that while I am in my warm house under a blanket and sleeping soundly, a teenager just like me is struggling to survive out in the cold. They probably do not even have a blanket or anything to cover themselves up with when sleeping. When I think about those innocent people being punished for nothing, life seems unfair.
Every citizen is entitled to 700 m/sq land of their own. Because so many people have settled their homes in the GD, the people who are moving in from the countryside will have to build their fence and ger on a place where it could be dangerous. I saw one family had built their ger in a place where it used to be a dump, and the area around it was shaped like a bowl, so it was very dangerous for the family if there was a flood. Their ger could get washed away so fast, they wouldn’t have time to think.
The people in the GD need protection. The build fences to claim their lands, for their own protection from the outsiders/robbers/thieves. Some people who a bit more money than thei others would use it to build tall iron gates, however, not many people could afford that so they would simply have to stick some wood in the ground around their ger to show people that the land is claimed. Sometimes, the people are so poor, they built their fences out from scraps/anything they could find such as old tire, piece of metal from a car. I saw one fence made out of cement and whoeve rlived in there had out broken glass on top of the gate so noone who dare try to climb their gate.
On the second trip there, we were planning to dig a toilet and rebuild their fence for them. Our class was split into two groups. One would dig the toilets, and the other would dig the holes to stick the fence in. we would change jobs after and hour. The other team was observing the fence. It was put together of scraps they found. Instead of hinges on the door, there was a cut out tire. My team got the head start on the toilet digging. The land was full of gravel and stone because the GD was settled on a mountanish hill. It was very hard to dig with a shovel when the gravels kept getting in the way. The activity required a lot of strength. But we somehow managed to dig about 30 centimeters. I know it doesn’t seem very deep, but it was a very challenging work. The shovels were very weak and the screw became loose. Then it was time for us to switch jobs, and that was when I realized that we would not get the toilets digging done on that day. When we switched jobs and our group moved on to the hole digging station, it looked very easy to do. However, when we started on the job, it was very hard to do. The metal poles were heavy itself, without having to pull and throw it into the ground every five seconds. Someone had to dig the hole and one person was bent on the floor to take the loose dirt out of the tiny hole. As we got deeper into the ground, we started to come across stones and rocks. It stood in the way of our digging so we had to take them out. While we were digging the hole where the fence post was going to be, the other team had a few extra workers so they decided to go and fetch water for the family. They said that it was a very hard. The one thing that made me feel bad was that we ripped down their fence and we just dug a few holes and left them like that. I do not think that it was a very nice thing to do. Our class insisted that we stay until lunch time and finish up their toilet and fence but we had to go.
For our in class project, we have to think of a technology that the people in GD were using and we have to find a way to improve it. I was thinking about maybe building better fences. It is kind of a hard project because we have to think about the amount of money that the people have, because they obviously cannot afford to build tall iron gates considering the circumstances they are living in at this very moment.
While I am using tons and tons of water, thousands of people out there fight for a litter of water. We (the kids in ISU) use money to go shopping and buy useless things just for the fun of it. Instead of doing that we could donate the money to the people out there who need it more than us and help to make their life better. We could make a difference in their lives. I think that it is very unfair that we have all these cool things and computers, the kids are playing with rocks in the GD.
When we first got there to dig a toilet for the family, I thought I could see how happy the lady was. She was pregnant and at least 6 months. I think she was the mother even though she was very young. There were two boys, I think, running around and they were playing with rocks in the dirt while we were digging their loo. I wanted to cry when I saw him playing like that. Others might have laughed because of what they are using as toys, but because that is the only thing that he has to entertain himself, he plays with it. I wanted to kneel down and give him all the money I had, and just, cry. It was so sad to think that when other spoiled boys had Wii, computer, PSP’s, and Gameboys, these little boys had to play with dirt and rocks. The clothes he was wearing broke my heart. I wondered how he stayed warm in the winter with his flabby jacket and trainer shoes. We have cars and drivers, and we have an access to hot water whenever we want, the little boys there, who did nothing to be punished that way, they have to carry heavy canisters of water uphill to their houses. It is not fair. When I was looking around the ger district, I wondered to myself, “What if I lived among these people?” I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be and I just couldn’t picture my self living in the shabby ger and houses built from scraps. And those boys, whore much younger than me, survive out there somehow. I knew that they were much bigger people than me. I also thought to myself, “I wondered how they will turn out when they grow up,” then I guessed that they would probably be very successful people growing up to help the others who live like he used to when he was little. I believe that when people have a hard, trying childhood, they grow up to be happy and have all the things they deserve, if they just wait patiently for something good. “Something good is always around the corner.” However, in my opinion, if they complain too much about their lives, tell everyone how miserable he is, and make everyone around him suffer right along, he will always stay the way he is. So, if someone has way too much fun in their childhood, they will have to pay their dues when they are older, when they’re parents are long gone. Some kids’ families can take the higher place in the economic pyramid, and the kids lose their way especially between the ages of 13-18. They think that their parents will live forever and take care of them until the end of eternity. But they’re wrong. One day, they are going to realize that they spent too much time socializing with friends, hanging out in a club to put some effort into their studies. Everything that their parents are doing right now is for their children’s future. However, the parents will fail if they don’t put some boundaries into their kids’ lives. The children don’t realize what they are becoming until they don’t have their parents anymore and they have nothing left. However, if they try and get good grades while they are in school with their parents beside them to hold their hand through everything and anything, then a good day will come someday. I really believe that it will. School is not here so that we spent thousands and thousands of dollars ($) into our tuition fee. Our parents expect something great from us and he will have failed them and they will have failed raising us if our life turns out to be messed up.
So back to my point, the day of their lives will come for the children in the ger district. They just have to wait a bit longer and they will see. By one little visit, I think we have made a difference in their lives.

The reason we went on this field trip is that it could be a huge help for our unit project in technology. The project states that we have to build something to improve the lives of the people living in the ger districts. It can be something that is already created and we can improve it or we are allowed to come up with something on our own. While we were on our field trip and sightseeing, I heard Sukhe, our travel guide, say that water trolleys make the residents’ of ger districts’ lives easier. I have to say that I agree with him. It must be very difficult to carry canisters of water from the water station during the cold seasons of Mongolia.

I’m not sure about what I want to organize for the project. I’m considering about remaking a water trolley, because some families cannot afford to buy any. It is probably because the people already have other things to buy that they need more than the water trolley; like food and heat. In my opinion, I think we, our class together, should get together on the weekends and try to build one. I want it to be strong and stable, so metal is the most convenient material we could use. On the handles, I want it to be made out of some kind of cloth or rubber, because when it gets cold, I don’t want the people freezing their hands by touching a cold metal.