Good Morning Guys! How do kids of nomads live? Do they go to school? Do they have a kindergarden? How do their days look like? I have been wondering about these questions. Life in the west is almost pre destined for children and adults: We are born, have to go to the kindergarten, then to school, then you can go to university, then you can get work, working like a robot for a bigger fish, it is not unusual for people to have two or three jobs and working over time that is paid or unpaid. From birth we get taught: - if you are not getting good marks in school and not getting a well paid job you are less likeable-. Easy said: we are living in a meritocracy!
How does it look like on the other side of the world? I visited nomads in Mongolia for one month, lived with them and got to know a new way of life.
People seemed to be happy the whole day
Nomad children do not go to a kindergarten, usually they are playing with kids or helping with chores in the yurt. Some of the kids were making fire to keep the yurt warm. At the age of three kids in Mongolia start riding horses. They like to ride into the valleys in the early morning and coming back in the late evening before the sun goes down. That was incredible cause people in the west are afraid to let their small children on their own, even for a few seconds. During their excursions they can eat in other nomads camps so they have energy for the rest of the day. Kids are attached to nature and do not have computer games, no mobile phone and no internet at all. In some areas I had weak phone reception :D If you want to call someone you have to use a satellite telephone. It is a huge box with strange noises :P
Teenagers are leaving their parents to attend boarding schools in the cities. They are living with other teenagers and only returning back at vacation time to their yurts. After school they are choosing whether they want to go to university or carry on their traditions as nomads. Many are choosing the life in bigger cities. They want to have more comfort, to go out and live the life that we are used to live. Some of them also want to go back to their roots, working with animals, making food for the family and living a less stressful life. But this is not really true, life is rough: no shower, no western toilets (just a whole in the ground) feeding animals, butchering animals and moving camp if necessary. Soon or later the way of the nomad will be history. Western companies are searching for minerals in Mongolia and digging up their ground.
Mongolian Song
Me and my hosts :)
letting fresh air in a yurt
Some kids liked to put some leaves on me :P
Organized Yurt :)
Horse track for riding tournaments. Horse race are as big as german football in Mongolia. People love to watch it
See you soon! Big Hug Lena <3 <3 <3