by Mrs. Isa Lee and PP Eddy Lo, Rotary Club of Soho HK
DG Norman made his official visit to Mongolia on April 21st to 25th
Given the opening of borders, our District takes the opportunity to organize the DG visit to Mongolia. A team of 12 delegates from Hong Kong visited Mongolia for 4 days arriving afternoon of Friday April 21. We received the warmest welcome upon arrival at Ulaanbaatar with a Russian dinner where I had the opportunity to get to know each and every President in Areas 9 and 10.
Over the next few days, we visited various service projects. We first visited First Central Hospital where 2 projects were presented by Rotary Clubs of Khuree and Ulaanbaatar respectively. The first project, being supported by Global Grant, deals with kidney stones cases which have increased 10 folds over the past 10 years due to air pollution and unhealthy diet of city people. With the donation of a laser device, patients can be treated quickly and accurately — shortening waiting time and recurring possibilities. I had the opportunity to witness a kidney stone being removed at the operation table. The second project focuses on education. The Rotary Club sponsored a learning room in the hospital which allows webinars to be attended by experts from other parts of the world. Precious information from each webinar is then printed into a book in Mongolian for further sharing and training of more local doctors.
We also visited the site for “Ger for Life” which helped 10 families stand on their feet again. These 10 families were matched to provide a ger for 2 years and in return these families attended different training so they can make a better living on their own in future, giving them a sense of community. This program is co-joined by Red Cross and the Deaf Society. Thanks to the voluntary weekly bakery lessons, we had the opportunity to taste a homemade cake made by a participant with hearing impairment that day.
We also had many enjoyable meetings with the local Rotarians and the youth. The HK delegation joined the regular lunch meeting of RC Khuree and were warmly welcomed with a souvenir for each delegate. This is the club of AG Galaa who accompanied us from the start to the end of this whole trip. The PAGs organized a Welcome Dinner. New faces and familiar faces, everyone got to introduce himself/herself, that’s a wonderful sharing. A few even came well prepared with a typed-out agenda to go through with me making best use of my visit. We had a lunch with the Presidents of Rotaract Clubs. They ordered for us the most popular Mongolia dishes which I definitely would not be able to order on my own. Instead of just a casual sharing lunch, many Presidents came well prepared to present their year-round activities, each club with a different focus. Their well use of social media draws in new members and many joined Rotaract without knowing a single friend in the circle to start out. Their Facebook does have a high viewership and portraits a very welcoming image too. I am impressed with the English proficiency of the majority. For the very first time an “All Interact Club Meeting” was held. With the participation of different clubs from 17 schools, the school hall was almost filled up with enthusiastic students. Due to the high number of presentations, the challenge was to deliver all activities done in the briefest way. This event was complemented by student performances, the highest climax was everyone dancing K-Pop together as a finale.
A highlight of my visit is the DG dinner. The party started with a great Mongolian traditional art of Khöömei which earns intangible heritage from UNESCO, and a most appealing folk dance. The night was uplifted by a lady Rotarian, who is also a famous pop singer, brought everyone to the dance floor. We also had new member induction and presentation of Paul Harris Fellow pins. It was so much fun that many stayed till the wee hours to mingle even after the party ended.
On our last day of the trip, I was interviewed by a local TV station to talk on Rotary. The recording was broadcasted the following day and I am sure this helps promote the image of Rotary. To further extend our existence and gain government collaboration, the whole team was able to meet the Chairman of the Parliament and his team at the Government House to paint them a good picture of how Rotary can help build the country.
We finished off the official trip with time for fun. To know the Nomadic culture better, we spent a whole afternoon in a tourist camp with opportunities to talk to a local family, experienced the local snacks and drinks and played an ancient dart game made of bones. It was indeed another experience to ride on backs of yaks and camels in nomadic dels. And it’s not every day that we get to carry a baby lamb. The last part of our journey was a dinner with more Karaoke singing and dancing hosted by AG Galaa. The trip ended with long lasting friendships.
We had a very fruitful 4 days where we could fully experience the energy of Mongolia and our Rotarians in Mongolia. The only disappointment was that AG Kema put so much effort in planning each detail for our trip in the past weeks, or even months, could not join us due to health issues. May I wish her a speedy recovery here.
Through this trip, I could see that Mongolia is growing rapidly, giving huge opportunities for Rotary to serve in different aspects. Let’s Imagine Rotary for Mongolia!
