Project News

The reality in the countryside of Mongolia is that it is difficult to detect and invisible impairment like autism and the child and family suffer from lack of understanding of community. A mother described her experience during the interview survey as follows:

"My son is living with autism. When I informed his kindergarten principal about the diagnosis by a hospital in Ulaanbaatar, she said not to come to the kindergarten from the next day." Her face showed her strong will to do whatever good she could for her son, as well as her uneasiness without any supporter around them.

The Project Team is currently conducting a baseline survey to understand situations before the Project's intervention in Khuvsgul Aimag which was selected as a pilot area. The questionnaire was distributed to and collected from Local Commission of Health, Education, and Social Protection for Children with Disabilities, school teachers, and family doctors who are expected to be involved in the Project. The Project Team visited 28 households to interview parents and guardians of children with disabilities in a selected bag of Murun and a selected soum^[1]. During the interview survey, the following situations were revealed.

• About half of visited households answered that there is no income except welfare allowance and pension.
• In 6 households, either father, mother or grandmother takes care of the child with disabilities and cannot go to work. It causes economic difficulties.
• 7 out of 20 households which have attended a meeting held by "Local Commission of Health, Education, and Social Protection for Children with Disabilities" commented that they didn't know how disability is certified and what kind of welfare allowance is provided.
• 4 out of 21 children at enrollment age could not go to school.
• In Khuvsgul Aimag, there are child support resources such as learning center run by Association of Participants with Disabled Children, daycare centers, and schools with a child development center. However, there are some cases that those who need the support were not informed about those resources.

Through the household visits, we found the existence of people who are isolated from the society due to economic difficulties, inaccessibility to information and resources, and lack of understanding of community.

The Project will review results of the baseline survey and develop a plan of operation to deliver a message of hope ("Don't worry, you are not alone") to those children and their family members.

View of Murun City