NOTICE: Please contact New Choice for information regarding the availability of this program.

Language and Cultural Program
Understanding local language, culture, and the ways of life may help your Mongolian volunteering experience more rewarding. This program is uniquely designed to provide volunteers with intensive language training and cultural orientation which offer glimpses in Mongolia’s languages, cultures, customs, religions and history, as well as arming you for the challenges you may face in Mongolia.

This program is as intensive as it is short and provides a series of language classes, cultural visits, village/home stays and countryside exploration.

First Week Proposed Schedule:
The focus of the first week of the program will be on learning Mongolian, but it will also provide you with an introduction to Mongolian customs and culture, as well as a sight seeing tour of the country’s capital – Ulaanbaatar.

Second Week Proposed Schedule:
After a weeklong language course in Ulaanbaatar, participants will be transferred to the small, ethnic village of Aimag, which is not far from Ulaanbaatar. Our home and village stay locations are carefully selected so that they represent Mongolia’s unique culture, nature and life to participating volunteers. Mongolian people's lives are virtually untouched by modern civilization. Here people still practice the traditional ways of nomadic civilization in all aspects of their lives be it farming, cooking or more. The village stay program is very fascinating because it offers a true-to-life picture of Mongolia. Participants will continue practicing language and enjoy rare cross-cultural opportunities, while staying with a host family. This is the preparation phase for volunteers to move into their volunteering or project sites.

Eligibility: All applicants should have: a desire to help the people of Mongolia, flexibility, self-motivation, openness to a new culture and a willingness to learn.

Pre-Departure Information: Before participants embark on their trip abroad, they will be provided a pre-departure packet that includes important details about their experience abroad. In addition, students may contact New Choice any time prior to departure with questions.
To better prepare volunteers and to make their experience more enjoyable, each volunteer placement of one month or longer begins with a two-day Mongolia language and culture orientation stage. Day one includes intensive language and cultural training in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Day two provides volunteers with hands-on cultural learning through a home stay in a rural ethnic minority community and participation in various cultural activities. This is a fun and effective way for volunteers to adjust to a new environment before volunteering begins.

Housing: Housing varies based on the placement location. During the volunteering stage of the placement, housing typically consists of a home stay with a local host family. This is a great opportunity for volunteers to learn experientially about Mongolia culture and family life. Volunteers can expect pleasant yet modest accommodations. (some times volunteers will live in hostel or dormitory)

Food: Food is provided as part of all volunteer placements. Traditional Mongolian food is served to volunteers two or three times a day.

Activities:
Many unique activities are included in volunteer placements of one-month or longer: ger district visit and hiking, cultural dance, Terelj National Park and a visit to Gandan Monastery, Natural History Museum or art gallery.

Village Visit and Hiking
A two-day trip (hiking) or village visit program will be organized during the home stay program. The hiking program will give participants opportunities to see green forests, magnificent landscapes and different aspects of rural life in Mongolia. Also, volunteers can practice their language skills while they converse with native people.

Gandan Monastery
the only surviving fully operation al Buddhist Monastery to have lasted through the 1930's Communist purges. The Great Temple should be open after much renovation, and the smaller temples are continuously open. Located in a gritty suburb of Ulaanbaatar though.

Natural History Museum
A really badly displayed collection of stuffed birds and animals in broken and unlit glass cases but worth visiting to see the Dinosaur gallery containing remains of finds from the Gobi desert. Like the Bogd-Khan residence, frustratingly nothing is labeled - not even in Mongolian!

Manazashir Monastery
Countryside’s Buddhist Monastery to have lasted through the 1920's. Located in an outside of Ulaanbaatar, Tuv province.
Now a museum, formally an important Monastery, it now houses many of the treasures which were hidden by faithful believers during the 1930's destruction of the Monasteries.

Terelj National Park
We will organize a visit to the Terelj National Park. The Terelj National Park is an hour drive east from Ulaanbaatar. During this program period, participants will enjoy activities like horse riding and travelling through hi rock.

Considerations: Volunteering isn't for everyone. Volunteering in Mongolia requires flexibility and patience. Individuals should be self-starters, who genuinely respect the Mongolian people and their culture. Volunteers go to Mongolia to share their time and energy with the people, to experience the Mongolia culture first hand, and to grow as citizens of the planet.

Before you apply, please consider the following:

• Can you camp?
• Can you live without modern plumbing, hot water and electricity?
• Are you aware that most volunteers experience illness at some point during their stay?
• Are you open enough to accept and respect a culture no matter how different it is from your first culture?
• Are you comfortable with yourself? At times you may feel isolated, particularly when you arrive in a village knowing no one.
• Are you hungry to learn? You'll learn a new language, a new culture, a new way of life.
• Can you handle culture shock? The moment you step off the plane you will be in a world where very little is familiar.
• Are you flexible? Mongolia in particular, are not as obsessed with time as the US or Europe. Often, schedules are ignored or appointments begin later than arranged. You may also encounter corruption in government officials and local administrators.

If you decide to volunteer in Mongolia, you are opening the door to the possibility for a personally enriching and life-changing experience.

Cost and Dates:

Included:
• Pre-departure Welcome Package to prepare you for your placement
• New Choice support for any of your pre-trip questions
• Airport pick-up and drop-off
• Mongolian travel and coordination
• Visa invitation letter
• Mongolian local food and accommodations
• Support from New Choice representatives
• Two day of Mongolian language and culture training
• City tour
• Cultural activities such as ger district visits, community stay, and traditional dance
• Visit to Terelj National Park and an horse riding
• Volunteer placement
• 24X7 Emergency phone support
• Post-placement packet including important re-entry information.

Not Included:
• Round-trip airfare to Mongolia
• Visa expenses, visa registration fee and airport taxes
• Personal expenses
• Extra food (fruit or candy)

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