Heading out for a brand new adventure

It is Saturday, May 3^rd, and we are preparing once again for a big trip. As some of you may know Tugsu graduated (with high honors) this past week with her Bachelor’s of Arts (BA) from the University of Michigan majoring in Sociology with a minor in the Environment. Well, she turned down some very generous offers from the top PhD programs in the country to return to Mongolia this year. Why would she do this you might ask? Well, I have a wonderful opportunity to build on the research I have been engaged in looking at alcoholism in Mongolia over the past year and actually try to apply it. I was offered a position as the Coordinator for the Mongolia mission of Medecins du Monde (MDM), a large international NGO based in France (http://www.medecinsdumonde.org/gb/). In this position I will organize and direct the organizations efforts in attempting to address the issue of alcoholism in Mongolia.

The position is quite an honor and in addition allows us to live together, comfortably enough, in Mongolia. So besides me working with MDM Tugsu will continue to build on the work she has been engaged in the past 2 summers working with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) (http://www.wcs.org/sw-home). This will be focused on working with one of the world’s last truly unique cultures, the reindeer herders of northern Mongolia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukha), in trying to bring them together in efforts to collectively manage their natural resources. This ongoing effort of hers will last the summer and from there who knows? She will have MANY opportunities.

Amina will, of course, be the most important member of our expedition. This summer we hope to expose her to more unique opportunities. We plan on providing her with a tutor to assist her in developing her Mongolia language skills, giving her ample opportunities to return to the amazing Mongolian countryside, and provide more varied educational opportunities like piano lessons. We will turn her over to relatives and good friends during the day and also introduce her to more children her age. After all, the best incentive to learn another language well is a friendship that has the potential to grow as you master it.

However, first we are off to Paris for a couple weeks. Here is the hotel we will be staying at (http://www.hotel-victoria-montmartre.com/accueil.htm). I will engage in training for my new position there, learning what it truly means to be a representative of MDM in the field. I will also be attending the annual MDM coordinator’s meeting. Both are wonderful opportunities for me and these of course will lead to wonderful opportunities for Amina and Tugsu as well as they get to explore and learn about the most wonderful city on earth. After being there for a couple weeks we will head back to Mongolia and being out work. We will keep you all up to date and hope you stay up to date with us. You already have our e-mail but if you would like to send us snail mail my address will be:

Desk Asia
Medecins du Monde
For the attention of Sean Armstrong, Mission: Mongolia
62, rue Marcadet
75018 Paris, FRANCE

In addition, we will be using videos alot more this year. You can view our vlogging (video blogging) and the first sample is provided here:

Hope to hear from you all soon!!!!!!!