Potatoes and Wheat Fields

I could not use the excuse that I got lost on my way to work since the office was only two doors down from my room. I did have a chance to go for a walk before work though and saw all the little kids running to school and the workers piling into their trucks to head out to the fields.

New plots of land were being made available to the public this morning and there were lots of people lined up at city hall. Our morning actually started with a visit to the Chairperson of Citizen Representative (City Councillor) who is also the Chair of the Supervisory Committee of the credit union. He was a wise, elderly man and we discussed the reason we were here and the partnership with CCA. This was the only Mongolian I saw with light eyes. We were presented with the Soum 20th Anniversary Medallion and wore it with pride.

After lunch we had some more conversations about the credit union before heading out to visit members. We met with potato farmers who work hard in the field all day as it is harvest season. Their young children sit in a ten all day while their parents work. I took some photos of the kids and they were delighted to see themselves on my camera.

 

We talked to a young farmer who is a member of the credit union and has borrowed money to harvest potatoes. He is trained as a Japanese translator but could not find work in his field so he is harvesting potatoes to earn money. He is on his third loan from the credit union in the amount of 4,000,000 tugriks, approximately C$2,800. He stated he is not currently saving money as he has a young family to raise and high expenses.

We continued on and visited the Board Chair, Chokka, who farms wheat and has about 600 hectares of land. I never realized driving 40 km/h could feel fast until driving down an unpaved, bumpy road, swerving to avoid the holes. We arrived at Chokka's ger/farm and he was very proud to show off his John Deere tractors.

They could not have sent two bigger city slickers to visit the agricultural credit union than Charilie and I. It was a beautiful day and it was amazing driving around the wheat fields and seeing the contrast of the wheat with the blue sky.

We had a chance to stop at another member's ger and were offer airag. I was really looking forward to trying this while I was in Mongolia. It is fermented mare's milk and it is impossible to describe. It is sour and a bit phelgmy.