Child Sponsorship Background from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

SOS Children's Village Ulaanbaatar

There are several hundred orphans in Ulaanbaatar alone, who are not provided for through the extended family system and are living either in orphanages or in the streets.

That is one reason why it was decided to build the country's first SOS Children's Village in the capital.

A suitable, 2.7-hectare plot of land was found on the eastern outskirts of Ulaanbaatar. The SOS Children's Village consists of fourteen family houses, the village director's house, a house for the SOS aunts (family helpers who support the SOS mothers), a multi-purpose hall, as well as an administration and service area.

The children from the SOS Children's Village attend state nurseries and schools. Additional English classes for children and mothers are taught at the village in order to improve their language skills. Tutors help children who have problems at school. An educational co-worker visits the schools regularly in order to get the teachers' input about the children's performance. Teachers of gymnastics, chess, checkers, table tennis, accordion, dance and folk songs organize classes for children, and the village hall is always busy with activities.

Other SOS Projects in Ulaanbaatar

In 2008, an SOS Youth Home became operational in a rented building and construction of an SOS Social Centre started. The centre will consist of training workshops, a room for medical treatment, two rooms for child day care, a kitchen and an administration area. It will offer health counselling, medical support and family-strengthening programmes with the aim to build parental skills and increase awareness of children's rights and to help the targeted families to be self-sufficient and to provide their children with a proper education.

Within the village premises, there is also an SOS Vocational Training Centre for mother and staff training. The training room has a capacity of up to 30 trainees per course.

Background to Ulaanbaatar

Ulan Bator or Ulaanbaatar, is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality, not part of any province, and its population as of 2008 was just over one million.