June 30th, 2010

Habitat Home Partner Who Moved From One Rented Place To Another Is Thankful For Own Home

ULAANBAATAR, 30th June 2010: Several international volunteers arrived earlier than usual on the third day of Habitat for Humanity Mongolia’s Blue Sky Build to gain a head start.

At the build site in Bayanzurkh district in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, rhythmic sawing of wood could be heard as some families began to put up roof rafters. By the end of the third day of the build, at least 12 houses had their roof rafters in various stages of completion.

The eyes were easily drawn to the crimson galvanized iron roofing sheets of a house whose roof rafters were completed slightly ahead of other houses.

Occasionally, bits and pieces of the Styrofoam used in insulation materials were lifted up by gusts of wind, creating artificial snow

The chatter of English, Mongolian, Cantonese and Korean provided the backdrop to a busy scene where volunteers continued with brick-laying or joining lumber for roof rafters or placing of insulation materials on the exterior walls and on ceilings.

The weather changed again, from the windy chill on the previous day to a searing heat. Devie Milward felt the construction progress improved from the day before despite the heat.

Her 10-member team from New Zealand opted to take the last bus leaving the build site to make the most of their progress.

Other volunteers such as Mee Ree Moon benefitted from the experience of working with Habitat veteran volunteers.

Building with Habitat for the first time, the 30-year-old South Korean said she is getting the hang of things. “It’s getting better and easier compared to the first day. On the second day, Steve and Barbara arrived and taught us some things which are very helpful in construction,” said Moon.

Americans Steve and Barbara Szemenyei have built with Habitat for Humanity in 14 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Projects including the 2009 project in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

The 29 Habitat families were also working hard. Among them is Rentsenkhand Damdinjav. The 40-year-old mother of four works in an Ulaanbaatar beverage company as a quality inspector.

Rentsenkhand’s family was used to moving from one rented place to another, living in each place for not more than three months. The frequent moves were because she and her husband Bayasgalan Ganbold could not afford to pay a higher rent.

For the past three years, her family has lived in a rented house, slightly smaller than the Habitat house, in Botanik district, Ulaanbaatar.

Her experience of living in rented places was unpleasant. “In winter, it was very cold and we needed to burn a lot of coal to keep warm. In summer, the roof would leak whenever it rained.” There was also a feeling of insecurity as her family could be suddenly asked to move out by the landlord.

“It was very hard. Whenever we move to another district, we have to go through a lot of paperwork for a change of information in our identity card. Sometimes, my daughter had to attend a kindergarten which was far away from my work place and I had to rush to take her home.”

When Rentsenkhand talked about her eldest son, 23-year-old Nyamdavaa, she became misty-eyed. He recently left for a six-month deployment as part of a peacekeeping mission sent by Mongolia to Chad in Africa. She looks forward to her son’s return and aims to help him save his salary for his own home when he gets married.

During the past few days of the build, Rentsenkhand has been helping to put up insulation materials for the walls of her house and lay bricks.

When asked how she felt about working with international volunteers to build her own house, she replied: “Great experience. I have no words to describe it. I can only cry.”