It’s winter.

We have our first snow in October. Everyone here are getting ready for a harsh winter. People are fixing their ger (Mongolian traditional tent house) and eat lots of fatty meat. During this time, people also stay busy gathering woods and buying coals to keep their houses warm. For many of homeless people, long and difficult winter months await them. It is the same with many animals and livestocks. Cows and horses roam the winterly fields to find grasses buried under the snow. It is easy to find stray dogs frozen to death at night.

Surprisingly, what is more difficult than minus 30 degree weather is the polluted air here in Ulaan Baatar. Each morning, you can not see a mountain right in front of you because of all the smoke from ger, burning coals and woods.

Within past 5 years, Ulaan Baatar experienced a population explosion. There are more than 1.5 Million people living in this city and that is more than half of the entire Mongolian population. Among these 1.5 Million people, 70% of them live in Ger district. There is no public heating or plumbing system in Ger district. This recent population explosion is causing many problems associated with major metropolitan cities (crimes and pollution). Many missionaries and church leaders have recognized Ger district as a place to share the Gospel and have future plans to reach the people here.

You can easily find stores selling coals and woods. Burning coals is the major contributor of pollution. It is also the cheapest way to stay warm in Ger. People spend about $3 a day to heat their home.

Winter is a harsh season for people and animals. You can easily find stray dogs dead during the night.

Some homeless people find a warm place to spend the night under ground.

A power plant in Ulaan Baatar delivers hot water through these pipe lines. It was built in 1930’s and it can no longer be able to service people in Ger District.

We visited our Mongolian friend’s home. His wife’s parents are doctors and they each earn about $500 a month. Working people earn about $200 a month. Due to high cost of living in the city, both parents have to work and many work at several jobs.

Our friend, Erigka will be going to Korea in December with a scholarship from Han Jin Group. We became friends when Jason taught him Korean in his college.

Ruth is drinking “Su-te-che” (Mongolian traditional milk tea. Su-te-che is a very important drink in Mongolia. Su-te-che is to Mongolian as Kim-chi is to Korean.

Oh! It was so cold outside but Angel wanted to play in the snow.

The poster in the back ground reads, “Beware of Dog!” Many people have dogs in their houses, so, Mongolian people would say, “Get a hold of your dog!” when someone visits their houses. This is a television program studio (Channel C1) and Jason was a guest panel to discuss about issues with Ger district. Jason talked about air pollutions in Korea. The program aired at 7pm on Sunday, November 2, 2008.