Mongolia

Life on the Mongolian Steppe

Sodnom

Children today are disconnected from their natural surroundings as they enjoy watching television and playing computers more than being outside. When I was a boy children would always be out exploring our natural surroundings. We would always take our horses up to the mountains and play with the stones along the river banks. We would regularly take our animals to other pastures for feeding. Our society had a lot more respect for the laws of nature back then.

I remember talking to my mother about the balance between our nomadic lifestyle and our natural environment. She would explain how our lives were dependent on the health of the land and the health of the animals. I was taught the importance about the health of our pastures and rivers. She would say, “no pastures, no water … no life for Mongolians”. Unfortunately, I fear that the pastures and water here are in trouble. I also feel that there is something wrong with the food that we are eating, as more and more people and animals seem to be getting ill.

I think that there are many reasons why the nature in Mongolia has changed. For example, the hills surrounding this area used to the covered with forest, they have all been cleared to build houses and gers. The river that once flowed through this town rarely flows today. It has suffered a lot due to mining companies extracting the water for use in their gold mines. It used to be impossible to swim across this river, now you can walk across it. I think that the main impact, however, has been a change in the climate. There are many more hot sunny days than there used to be. I think that this is having an impact on the pastures and the river.

Here in the monastery we are trying to re-educate people about the relationship between the nomadic lifestyle and the environment. We are trying to reintroduce the knowledge of traditional practices and customs that have been lost to the past.