international women’s association of mongolia ...byambasuren chultem (mng) iwamvp@gmail.com ......

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) iwamboard@gmail.com Vice Presidents Byambasuren Chultem (MNG) iwamvp@gmail.com Beverly Rhoades (USA) iwamvp2@gmail.com Honorary President Baljinnyam Damdin (MNG) Secretary Nomin Galsandorj (MNG) iwamsecretary@gmail.com Treasurer Nina Seiffert (GER) iwamtreasury@gmail.com Vice-Treasurer Tonga Katyush (MNG) iwamvt@gmail.com Membership Violeta Brown (Peru) iwammembership@gmail.com Events Vacant Projects Vacant iwamprojects@gmail.com Newsletter Karolina Zygmanowska (Poland) iwamnews@gmail.com

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 iwamboard@gmail.com.

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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 iwamcalendar@gmail.com 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 (iwamevents@gmail.com) 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 iwamboard@gmail.com 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, brown.violeta@gmail.com

MAH JONGG Please contact: Nina Seiffert, ninainmongolia@gmail.com

SALSA Please contact: Violeta Brown, brown.violeta@gmail.com

HABLEMOS ESPAÑOL (Spanish Conversation Group) Please contact: Violeta Brown, brown.violeta@gmail.com

DEUTSCHE ECKE (German Conversation Group) Please contact: Nina Seiffert, ninainmongolia@gmail.com

PHOTOGRAPHY Club Please contact: Diane Height, dianeheight@gmail.com

BOOK CLUB Please contact: Jo Perrett, perrettj@hotmail.com

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 gabriella.schmidt-corsitto@t-online.de

ZUMBA Please contact: Violeta Brown, brown.violeta@gmail.com

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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

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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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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?

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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 iwamnews@gmail.com 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 iwammembership@gmail.com

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