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December 2002
This summer, for the month of August,
three of my fellow classmates and
I took a trip to Mongolia in Asia.
One my classmates, a friend who
had been living in Mongolia for
three years before he began school
at Maxwell International Baha'i
School in Shawnigan Lake. Because
he knew the community and felt
that Mongolia was his true home,
he helped organize the trip.
I arrived in Mongolia at the beginning
of August not knowing what to expect.
I had heard stories of the nomadic
Mongol invasions in the Post- Classical
Era in school, but I had no idea
of what modern Mongols did, or
even looked like. Soon, we settled
in and when it was time to leave,
I couldn't tear myself away.
Our trip was characterized as a
social-economic development project
supported by the Baha'is of Mongolia.
We traveled around southern Mongolia
and the tip of the Gobi desert
to remote communities. We taught
children's classes, English lessons,
had youth meetings and participated
in community projects.
We were introduced to the Mongolian
Development Center (MDC) while
on the trip. During our travels,
we met a woman who had participated
in environmental seminars teaching
how to grow vegetables in this
seemingly barren land. Although
Mongolia is below 40*C about 80%
of the year, environmental projects
have taught how to cultivate the
land. This is an example of a social
and economic development project
that has been very successful.
Another project that could be likewise
useful and successful in this country
is the construction of small turbines,
which are relatively easy and inexpensive
to make.
Maxwell built a number of model
turbines. One of the models has
been sent to the MDC. Although
I physically left Mongolia, my
spirit is still there. Hopefully
these turbines can help with development
in the county and the Mongolians
will know how much our thoughts
are with them.
- Makini Boothe, student at Maxwell
International Baha'i School
Maxwell classmates: Makini Boothe,
Leeva Sheidaee, Sam Toloui,
"Some Guy"
Bagnur English class
Makini's English class
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