We're Back - Thursday Sept 20

So just as we expected, no internet, but plenty of reliable electricity out there so that was good.  We left UB on Sunday morning and travelled about 2.5 hours north to a village (soum) called Bonuur. Majestic green and pale yellow/brown coloured  mountains dotted the dusty landscape as our little Toyota "something" bounced and rattled along the roadways. It was a nice change to be out there. Fresh(er) air and tastier traditional Mongolian food than here in the big city. Everything cooked and served here is grown in the local area and of course its all home made. I have to admit when we arrived I was a little apprehensive about this next stay but boy was I wrong. It was a great credit union to work with, very well run and a very strong leader running it with along with a very proud and supportive Board and community behind it. When we got there we pulled up to a worn and tired looking 2 storey white building located in soum centre (downtown). There is a market and restaurant on the first floor. On the second floor are our rooms. Down the hall from our rooms is the credit union office we'll be working at, a pawn shop and a bank. The bank is located in the office next door to the credit union. A shared bathroom (for everybody in the building) across the hall from my room. Showers are located in another building about a football field away and only costs about $2 for 20 minutes and open daily from 9am to 9pm. Rooms are very, very basic but clean. My coaching partner and I along with our translator met with the CEO of the credit union and his staff for about 2 hours on Sunday after we settled in. We hit the ground running Monday morning with more discussions with the CEO, then a meeting with the Chair of the Supervisory Committee who also is on the Board of Representatives for the soum (like a city councillor). We met in his office. When it was over he presented us with honorary visitors medal and certificates. The medals commemorate the 20th anniversary of the soums existence. We spent some time travelling through the farm areas. This area is a huge producer of vegetables and wheat. Lots of potato farms. This is the P.E.I of Mongolia. Met some great people (cu members) and took lots of pictures. After dinner we hit the sack and got started again on Tuesday morning. Very in depth discussions with the Board Chair and the CEO this morning. The Chair really enjoyed and appreciated us being there. On Tuesday afternoon he takes us to a huge art museum that is located high atop one of the mountains just east of here in a nationally preserved area. The artist is a local and very well respected Lama. The building is not quite ready for the public but we go anyway and as luck would have it the Lama is there and invites us in and gives us the grand tour. The attraction also boasts a hiking trail along the side of the mountain in behind the building. Great experience. Back to work Wednesday. The CEO asked us to zero in on his most pressing challenges which was getting his members to save more than they do now and coming up with ideas to help him grow membership. The credit union is only six years old and is profitable. But they need to grow. Working closely with the CEO and the Chair we manage to put together a number of possible strategies that could help. On Wednesday afternoon we preseneted our report to the Board. A few anyway, not eveyone could make it. Its potato harvest time around here. A local school teacher we met said most of her classrooms are only half full right now as childern are expected to be out helping with the harvest. The CEO also pulled in a few members to join us as we walked from the office the soum hall for the meeting. A nice dinner celebration with a number of members and credit union Board and committee people Wednesday night. Hard to believe its over already.

Back to UB Thursday morning. All of the other teams will be back too as we get ready for our Friday morning debrief with our Mongolian partners MCTCC. We head home Staurday. Its an early flight out. I'll post again if I get a chance before we leave. Here's a few pic's from the 4 nights in Bonuur at the Khasbanyan Ulziit credit union. Charlie


Meeting with the Chair of the Supervisory Committee inside his office at soum hall

The Board Chair who also owns about 600 hectacre of land where he proudly grows wheat

a high tech ger

The Chair and CEO search for reports we requested to see

the Lama's art museum project we visited

the area around the building we stayed at had alot trash all over the grounds - Heather suggested we clean it up - so about 10 of us including Board members, staff and a local school teacher and two of her students did just that

The credit union CEO and I - last picture at the office before we leave to present our report to the Board

Day 7 - Back to Work

Today we head out to our next CU assignment. We're leaving the city in the morning about 11am and will drive about 100k north of UlaanBatar into vast countryside. This may be the last time I post for awhile. We dont know what to expect in terms of internet access, or electricty or running water. So if you don't see any new posts for a while you'll know why. Thanks to all of you who have been following along. I'll catch up when I can.
Charlie

Sun beginning going down over the Tuul

Tuul River

Mongolian nomads on the move - including the satellite dish

Day 6 = Day Off!

Further to my last post - what a great day off we had. Hightlights included, getting real close to a Mongolian eagle, rode a 2 humped camel and drank beer on the banks of the Tuul River. 

We went to Terelj National Park. Its one of the many national parks of Mongolia. The Terelj tourist zone has a number of "tourist camps".

A small southern portion of the park is developed for tourists, with restaurants, souvenir shops, horses and camels for rent, and tourist ger (or yurt) camps. However, most of the park is undeveloped and difficult to access. Attractions include Khagiin Khar Lake, a 20m deep glacial lake 80 km upstream from the tourist camps, and Yestii Hot Water Springs, natural hot springs 18 km further upstream. The park also has a Buddhist monastery that is open to visitors. Park wildlife includes brown bears and over 250 species of birds. The Tuul River flows through the park. Apparently most westerners were introduced to this area when the CBS reality television program The Amazing Race visited the park in the second episode of its tenth season. Check out these pictures.

Day 5

Day 4 was our final day at Good Life SCC. The morning meeting was delayed due to a hydro blackout (which is no unusual in the city, they happen frequently). We got started about 11am. My coaching partner and I presented our findings and recommendations with the assistance of our translators. The E.D. and her staff thanked us for the report and they looked forward to discussing it with their Board. The future of Good Life SCC is dependant on building a stronger business relationship with their sole employer group sponsor, Tuushin LLC. The potential new membership market present some opportunities for growth buy it is limited. Good Life is well run and we were thankful for the opportunity to visit and be of some help. After lunch we were driven out to see another member who's life has been vastly improved thanks to business loans he received. He handcrafts morin khuur's. The morin khurr is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument.

It's one of the most frequently played instruments of the Mongol people and is considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation. It was a great week. I'm really starting to like this place. I didn't have my camera with with me today. But my partner has some pics which I'll upload later. However Day 6 was a day off so we eagerly accepted and invitation to take a ride out into the country to spend some time in one of the many national parks and conservation areas. Check out the next post.

Charlie

Day 3 and 4 blog post in pictures moslty - must sleep

Day 3 was great - we had a 2 hour meeting with the Good Life SCC Supervisory Committee, an interesting  lunch meeting at the Grand Khan Irish Pub (really thats the name) with the Board Chair, a visit with another hard working credit union member who has impoved his life and that of his family thanks to his credit union. On Day 4 we spent the entire day meeting with staff on a wide array of operational and administrative topics. Sorry no details. I'm wacked and heading for bed. Hope you like the pictures that follow. We've spent the last few hours working on our final report and recommendations for Good Life. We present tomorrow. Good night (or good morning).
Charlie

Hey Sicily, Mongolian impingulata - I kid you not - deep fried dough pockets stuffed with ground beef and onions - they were awesome - thats coleslaw on top

The Rose Motel Story

My credit union coaching partner and I would like you to meet someone. Yesterday we had the
privilege (and indeed honour) of visiting Dashdulam the owner of the The Caphau Motel (Caphau means Rose in Mongolian).

She is an incredibly inspiring woman with a perpetual smile who with the assistance of her credit union, aptly named the Good Life SCC, has transformed her life into a decent and dignified "good life". One that is immensly better than she would otherwise have had she told us. She did so in the face of great financial and physical adversity. We were only able to spend about 30 minutes or so with her but in that short time we learned about a wonderful story that really exemplifies the reason we coaches travel thousands of miles to help credit unions in developing countries like Mongolia.

When Dashdulam was 5 years old she became afflicted with polio. Life was obviously very difficult for her. We didn't get much in the way of details about her upbringing and her life as a growing child, teenager and adult this country. But its pretty safe to say that she's faced many challenges and barriers in her life along the way. She was able to attend primary and secondary school and she had a keen interest in becoming an accountant. She did not pursue her dream she explained to us because employers would not hire someone with the physical disabilities she possessed. She moves around with the use of crutches. It appeared she could not put much weight on her legs and dragged her feet for the most part. She told us that her life changed 9 years ago when she saw an ad in the local newspaper about a credit cooperative that was just opening up, where people like her, people who could not even dream of doing business with a bank could have access to financial services like savings and business loans. Dashdulam owns a very modest home on the outskirts of Ulaanbatar. We did not find out how she came to own the house but I assume it was handed down to her by her parents or other family. She decided to take control of her life and start a business. A home based business would be best of course considering her physical challenges. This would allow her to work and earn an steady income without leaving home. With loans from Good Life she converted her home into a 4 room motel. With a noticeabley excited  look in her eyes and a strong sense of pride, she readily approved our request to take video and shoot pictures of her place. I can't over emphasize the word pride. She was so happy about what she'd accomplished so far in her life and was eager to have these strangers from Canada visit her place.

 She said she had princlples about how she ran her business. She wanted us to know that although her motel is not luxurious , you will always find it very clean. She gestured towards the floors and reception area for us to see for ourselves. She also reached behind her while standing by the desk and popped opened the doors to a large cupboard that held dozens of neatly pressed and folded bed sheets and pillow cases. She also shared another business principle with us. One that took this heart warming story over the top for both my coaching partner Heather and I. One which produced a very humbling moment for both us as we listened to our translator. She declared to us that she only hires two types of staff members to help her at the motel. She hires seniors and people with disabilities. What I understood was that Dashdulams believes seniors and people with disabilities are among the most marginalized people in Mongolia. She said shes thankful for what she has and this is her way of giving back for the opportunity she had to make a better life for herself. In the case of people with disabilities of course she speaks from experience. Unbelievable. I live in a great country and I have more in my life that you can imagaine but this lady is richer than I will ever be. Thank you for allowing us into your home and sharing your story with us Dashdulam.

Day 2

We arrived (about 10:15am) at the office of the first of 2 credit unions we are assigned to during this mission. We were picked up at the hotel.  We decided to walk home as it was only a couple kilometers away. We're planning to continue walking there and back each day so long as it doesnt rain - don't want to mess my hair eh.
We were warmly greeted by the Executive Director Hoesa (her fisrt name) and 2 of her staff. The interpretor assigned to us is Inkay. A very interesting lady who works (her real job) in the area of enviromental policy development for the central government. We spent the next 2 and a half hours meeting with the E.D. and her staff learning more about Good Life SCC, past and present. The credit union faces many challenges as are most credit union's in Mongolia right now. Back in 2008 hundreds of small savings and loans went bankrupt during the world finacial crisis. Thousands of Mogolians lost their life savings in many cases. The system has been trying to regain consumer confidence ever since. They've made great headway but still have along way to go. However we already believe we have a number of ideas to share so we're anxious to continue our work over the next 3 days and learn more about them. After lunch the days agenda required us to spend the afternoon on the road visiting 3 of the credit uions members. It's not unusual for credit unions involved in the Coaching Program to want to "show off" the special guests from Canada. It's also about the credit union showing us the heart warming success stories that personify the good they do and the impact their services have on their members livihoods. Personally I love this part. It's the reason I come. This is the moment of truth. This is where you see the impact credit unions can have here.  People lifted out of poverty because the credit union believed in them and gave them a chance. Today we found such a story. I'm in the process of putting it all into words. Stay tuned.

Day 1

After a smorg breakfast in the hotel that included, mortadella, salami, boiled eggs and toast, just to name a few of the items, we all met at 10am for our debriefing meeting. The meeting was hosted by our partner for this mission - MCTIC (the acronym is affectionately pronounced by everybody as MICKTIC)and stands for Mongolian Cooperative Training and Information Centre. Really nice people. MCTIC's Executive Director Mr. Myagmar-Ochir welcomed everyone with gracious comments about the CCA and the credit union coaching program. Also in attendenace and presenting information to us, covering a variety of areas, were B. Purev of the FRC (cu regulator),B. Munguntuya and B. Bayarmaa of the MOCCU and others. Then we were treated to a nice lunch in the hotel. After that they took us out in a 10 passenger mini van and gave us a tour of the main touristy sites of the city. In the evening we went to a cultural music and dance performance and then to dinner. The pics below kind of tell the story of the day. Tomorrow my coaching partner Heather O'Hare and I head to our first credit union. I made up a great name for our team.... O'Hare and No Hair. The credit union is located here in Ulanbatar and its called Good Life Savings and Credit Coopertative (thats cool). We'll continue to stay in this hotel for the remainder of the week so daily posts to the blog should not be a problem. ....check back later.....oh one more thing, lots of pot holes in the roads throught and around the city. Charlie

Enroute to Mongolia

Not alot to talk about. Up at 5am on Saturday morning (Sept 7), currently typing this during hour number 26 since leaving Ottawa and just waiting to board the plane for the final leg which takes us from Seoul South Korea to Ulannbaatar, Mongolia.

But I will tell you one little story. Funny thing happened at the airport in Ottawa. Prior to arriving at the airport I remarked how I always get "pulled over" after going through airport metal detectors at the security check. I revealed to the team that I have been packing titanium hips since 06 when both were replaced due to severe osteoarthritis. And so as is usually the case everyone got through screening except me. I lit up the metal detector booth in the Ottawa airport like a Christmas tree. There was lots of smiling and suppressed laughter by my colleagues as they watched me go through the wand and pat down drill. But to my surprise Jane got pulled over too haha. Not sure what set off the bells for her, but after they were done with her and she joined up with the group, with eyes wide open (looking kinda shocked), she declared with a sense of dismay and in an invasive (that was gross) kinda tone she said, "I got Charlied!!!" . She got Charlied?? So now for this group, and I'm going to guess for the balance of the journey to and from Mongolia, through the many checkpoints and metal detectors we'll be required to pass though, my name has become the adjective that will describe the process of being pulled over, wanded and patted down by security people....... Hey I got CHARLIED. Did you get Charlied? Oh no look someones gettin Charlied. I'm not sure I like this.

We made it to the hotel about midnight...into our rooms about 1am. In a few hours the mission will officially begin when we meet with our hosts at 10am. Check back tomorrow. Bye for now. Charlie

Hi all. Here's a quick summary of the last few days. I arrived in Ottawa Tuesday evening after a one hour delay for take off due the fight crew being late - a half hour wait on the tarmac in Ottawa because the crew was not ready to wave the plane in and another half hour watching an empty baggage carousel spin round and round....... Air Canada. I met the rest of the team Wednesday morning, great group, this is going to be fun. They're typical CU people - very serious about their work but like to laugh and have fun doing it. My kind of people. They are: Chris - Risk Officer - Central Risk Management Trudy - CEO - Horizon Credit Union Neil - VP Finance - Conexus Heather - Financial Services Advisor - Meridian CU Graham - retired CU CEO from Saskatchewan after 30 years Sue - Loans Officer - Westoba CU Joan - Branch Manager - Integris CU

The CCA staff are just as great. We spent two and a half days in training and orientation sessions. We heard from various key people. Tanya gave us a very thorough look at the organization itself, history, mandate and structure. We also heard from Erin who gave us a clear understanding of the work being done around the world by the International Develpoment division of the CCA. Gender equality and cultural sensitivity training delivered by Anna and a interesting discussion with a sharp individual named Michael who heads up the business development area (aka the guy who finds the money to fund the programs).

On Thursday we were back at it. We spent the majority of the day with Sarah talking about Mongolia: the history, the culture and the credit union system. Very intersting day as we we really got down to ground level and talked about what we can expect when we get to our assigned credit unions to begin our coaching assignments. I wish we we're leaving tonight. Only a half day on Friday. We met with David Shanks - media and communication guru of the CCA and all around good guy. I first met David in 2009 before my first trip to Uganda. Joining him for this session was Laurie Tennian (wife of my good buddy Tom Tennian (now with CUMIS) whom I've known for 23 years. Laurie's been with the CCA for well over 20 years and appears to have done it all, working in many different roles over the years. Many credit union readers may know Laurie from her great work with the Women's Mentoring Program. The jewel in her crown I would think. Laurie took us through the mandate of the communications side of things or public engagement as its referred to here at CCA and David zoned in on helping us "tell our stories" when we get back. The communication part of our mission requires that we bring back our story in words as well as in pictures and video if possible. Having us on the ground, side by side, working, talking, learning, coaching, seeing and listening to our Mongolian credit union partners, staff, directors and members is vital to the program and to the CCA. Vital for lots of reasons not the least of which is helping the CCA tell "its story" about the marvelous work they do in the area of international development and to help in securing future funding for the program. Very interesting and worthwhile session. Had lunch and a couple of pints with friends, Joan Ellis (who was with us on the Uganda mission, she lives here and works for CUSOURCE which is the credit union education/training arm of Central of Canada and my old buddy Tom Tennian who I've known for 23 years. His wife Laurie works for the CCA and he works for CUMIS. Tomorrow we head out for Mongolia. Up at 5am and take off at 8. I did the math and I believe if all of the flights are on time we'll be at least 35 hours from pillow to pillow. According to the schedule it does not appear there'll be much rest when we get there - adrenaline takes over at that point based on my Uganda experience. Worry about sleep later. Looking forward to it. Thanks for reading. I'll post again first chance I get subject to internet access. Before I sign off I have to say many thanks to Sarah Feldberg - Program Coordinator, who quarterbacked all the arrangements for us, provided all the answers to our many questions and pumped our brains with just about everything we need to know about what to expect when we get there. She continues to provide support from CCA headquarters until we meet up again in Vancouver for the mission debrief scheduled for Sept 22/23rd. Thanks for taking care of us Sarah. Charlie