My life’s passion is to be of service to my community and the world at large. I’m donating 50% of all my personal income towards a very hands-on initiative to cut air pollution in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (UB).  This is not only to combat global warming. Air pollution there is directly correlated to the #1 cause of death among children under age 5, Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI). Bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia are other common ailments that the UB children suffered from 2 – 10 times more occurrences than in the countryside.

I am doing a drive to replace energy inefficient stoves in Mongolia, to encourage use of higher grade coal that burns cleaner, and to build biking paths in UB. This would help move towards sustainable development and help improve the air pollution in UB, which is caused mainly by the emissions from the ger districts, surrounding the city from the migrant population.

However, the heart of the problem is this. The young from the countryside are migrating to the city to form these ger districts.  They live in poverty, with no electricity and access to public utilities such as sewage, and contribute to the air pollution by burning in inefficient stoves, coal for heating. They are repeating industrial patterns of 19th century United States and Europe, which is unnecessary in today’s Information Age.

Given more choices, the Mongolians in the countryside, who are living the way they had for thousands of years, would not have to rely on a gray economy or continue to live in a pre-economy condition that drives the younger generation to the city outskirts. To give them the opportunities, Mongolia needs better infrastructure to help convert the livestock they own into currency, to sell their meat in UB, for example, and their own sustainable enterprises. (A perspective on how ridiculous it is: UB imports meat from China, although Mongolia has the most livestock per capita in the world.)

We are working on a plan to install a locally-managed economic infrastructure through a cooperative system for the nomadic people. We’re also working on rebuilding the healthcare system in the countryside throughout Mongolia while also supporting the holistic healing, herbalism, and traditional medicine. We have plans in the works to help local communities in Mongolia to build profitable businesses that are socially and environmentally responsible as well.  We are partnering with Northern Colorado’s community, Denver-Ulaanbaatar Sister City alliance and initiatives, and Boulder’s creative drive to bolster and foster sustainable development opportunities.

Ultimately, this is not just for Mongolia and her people. It’s for the world. I consider myself a global citizen. But Mongolia is where I can contribute the most in the world right now. It is a critical period in Mongolia’s history with its transition from a Socialist state to a Capitalist one, with the mining industry fueling all aspects of the growth of this small economy, and the giant interests threatening to overwhelm the fragile ecosystems and communal ways of living that lasted for many centuries.

JOIN ME MY MISSION

Give me a shout out, put your name and email down for me on the Contact page. I’ll keep you updated on what’s going on here, weekly, and let you know how far along we are, who I’m meeting, and how that goes. There are also several fundraising events that will be coming up, which will be a blast, including an open bar, BAR LAUNCH PARTY, with food provided, with part of proceeds going to this cause.