Catholic Mission is highlighting the work of the Don Bosco Caring Centre in Mongolia, which provides children with shelter and a place where they can find warmth, food, and care.
Despite the warming temperatures ahead, this last winter has significantly impacted the Mongolian people. The extreme cold weather, known as the Dzud, has seen temperatures drop as low as -50 degrees Celsius, affecting the households, livelihoods, mental health, wellbeing, nutritional, and education needs of more than 24,000 children, according to the recently published Mongolia Humanitarian Situation Report from UNICEF.
The conditions have aggravated the situation of many children, especially the children who are living on Mongolia’s streets. Often left to fend for themselves, they come from broken families, where domestic violence and lack of parental care often push them outside of their home.
To offer a secure environment for these children, the Don Bosco Caring Centre opened in 2003 to provide children with shelter, a place to find warmth, food, and care.
“In Mongolia, many children become victims of domestic violence … making them lose any interest in being at home, or making them run away from home,” said Namdag Ivgeelt, a social worker at the centre.
“For forty per cent of the children, we don’t know where their parents are. For the others, alcohol addiction, poverty, and domestic and family violence mean that parents are unable to take care of their children.”
Located in the centre of the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, the centre has been providing a beacon of hope for many children, not only providing them with shelter but also offering the opportunity to access a brighter future.
Catholic Mission is supporting the work of the Don Bosco Caring Centre and is seeking donations to for this cause. Visit www.catholicmission.org.au/caring
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The Don Bosco Caring Center (Catholic Mission)
