Back In Seattle

Our Mongol Rally ended just over two weeks ago as we pulled into Ulaan Baatar and donated our two tiny Fiat Puntos to The Adventurists For Development. It’s taken a while for all of us to get home, to get over our jet lag, and get back into the swing of things. But we are all back in Seattle, safe and sound now.

We are still going through the thousands of photos and hundreds of hours of video we took along the way, and at some point we’ll definitely have a welcome back wrap up party with slide shows and stories to tell you all, so keep your eyes open for that invitation.

In the meantime though, we have thrown together a quick little video to show you all where your generous donations are going. During the last week of our journey, we joined a Mercy Corps project coordinator on a tour of several sites which were recipients of Mongol Rally 2009 grants. It was amazing to see how just a few dollars can really change somebody’s life and provide an opportunity to start a business that will sustain itself for years to come, or achieve an education that would be impossible otherwise. This is what the rally was really all about for us! Thanks to Glenn Bell for providing the soundtrack.

With your contributions, we more than doubled our initial $5000 goal. We could not have done this without all of your amazing support, including the fund raising efforts of Ed Roberts, Real Networks and Microsoft Employee matching programs, and massive fundraising efforts by F5 Networks employees all over the world.

If you still wanted to make additional contributions, or if you have not had a chance to donate yet, don’t worry, you can still make a donation that will count towards the Mongol Rally 2010 total this week! Please go to http://firstgiving.com/baatarhero and make your final contribution now!

Thanks again to all of our amazing sponsors: F5 Networks, Honda & Toyota of Seattle, TerraPass, Red Star Travel, Sisalwood, Rescue Tape, SatellitePhoneStore.com, Keen Footwear and eKit.com for all your support!

Team Baatar Hero
Kim | Brian | Jean | Tom | Amy | Yasmin
http://rally.roamgreen.org
http://facebook.com/baatarhero
http://twitter.com/baatarhero

Have Mercy

With just a few hours sleep, we were up and back on the road at 5am this morning to make up for time lost breaking down before Dundgobi. Jean, Amy and Yasmin were off in the Land Cruiser with Tom, Kim and I following in the Russian jeep. Zaya said it the best, “Russian jeep is built well, but not designed for anybody to ride inside”. The thing is a tank, with its awesome Russian nuclear submarine gauges, and the brutal road can do no harm to it. But the same can not be said for its inhabitants. As much as the road was shaking us and the Fiat to bits, the jeep took its blows and just passed them along to us. For several hours the seat was punching me in the back until I got sick. We rotated for a while, I took the front seat until somebody, I think Kim & Zaya, wisely put me into the Land Cruiser. I was finally able to sleep until the 5 hour drive to Dalanzadgad was complete.

The Mercy Corps office in Dalanzadgad treated us to breakfast before we set out to see the project sites around the city, and we all recovered from the drive with a well needed energy boost.

The first site we went to was a community wood working group that custom makes parts for Gers. With a grant of several hundred thousand Tugrik (a few hundred dollars) which came from Mongol Rally fund raising, they bought a table saw and some of the raw materials they needed to kick start the group. They are already building a reputation for the quality of their work and it was awesome to see that they are creating a sustainable business to benefit themselves and their community.

The next site was a similar set up, but this time making bricks out of recycled ash, to be used as construction material. Mercy Corps had helped them with a loan guarantee for some equipment and was providing business oversight & advice. They are already looking to expand production due to their success.

A few blocks away, we visited a building where women were making the canvass Ger covers and growing their business with grants from Mercy Corps.

We continued to a few more sites, one which made handicrafts for sale in UB, and another which made felt and clothing for school uniforms. These uniforms are a little funny to us… today was the first day of school and we could see the kids strutting all over town in their new duds. The girls uniforms look like French maid outfits, and the boys wear these suits that are straight out of a 1920’s gangster film… all shiny with pin stripes. It was a total crack up for us. At many of these project sites we would see the Mercy Corps contracts proudly displayed on the wall with Mongol Rally logos stamped right above them. The fourth site we visited was operated by a group of women who were all struggling to pay to care for their children with cerebral palsy. With the grants from Mercy Corps they were able to start a business that now affords them the ability to better care for the special needs of their children, creating a steady and recurring income that far exceeds the minimal amount the government was providing for assistance previously. It was awesome to see that for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, the fund raised from the Mongol Rally could set these groups up in the community to start sustainable businesses. Just the fund raising from Baatar Hero could create several of these grants next year, and we only saw 5 projects in one town. I can only imagine what the impact is in aimags across the country from the funds of the entire rally.

After yesterday’s horrible day of driving and final break down, it felt completely worth it today seeing how the rally positively impacts these projects. It was incredibly touching when these women told us how much the rally funds help them and thanked us personally… their parting words, “Tell people at home about our work here”. So, while you may not all be able to do something like the Mongol Rally, you now know the impact that Mercy Corps is making in these people’s lives.

While it seemed our day couldn’t get much better, it was only just beginning. Zaya took us to a great restaurant for lunch, and after a few hours drive one some really nice dirt roads for a change, we found ourselves at the Flaming Cliffs just in time for sunset. The view was stunning… words can’t do it justice and I’m not sure photos can either. Tomorrow morning we’ll wake up early from our nearby Ger camp and look for dinosaur fossils at the foot of the cliffs before heading West to sand dunes and then North to visit some more Mercy Corps projects. If their is time, we may even be able to drive through Karakorum and visit the Erden Zuu monastery on our way back to UB on Friday.

Mercy Corps Mongolia Update

A big thanks to the Mercy Corps Seattle office and Dominic Graham, Mercy Corps’ country director for Mongolia, for inviting the team to a wrap-up meeting regarding their work in Mongolia.  Oidov Vaanchig, project officer for Mercy Corps (MC) in Mongolia, put on a great presentation summarizing their hard work which focuses on civil society empowerment, economic development, and natural resource development and management.  We wanted to provide this update to the friends and fans of Baatar Hero as a reminder to where all your generous donations are going.  We, and most importantly, the people of Mongolia, can’t thank you enough.

There are many NGOs working in Mongolia, and most pour all their efforts in the capitol, Ulaanbaatar.  But MC is different.  Working in Mongolia since 1999, MC focuses on improvements in the countryside where one-third of Mongolia’s population still lives.  MC’s basic aid philosophy is to empower the people to help themselves to the point where outside aid is no longer needed.  How many companies strive to work themselves out of a job?  MC does, and they do it by employing 95% of their 3500 staff members in the country for which they work.

The meeting started out with the announcement that MC Mongolia recently won the 2010 Disability Inclusion Award given by InterAction and Mobility International USA.  People with disabilities are one of the most marginalized groups in rural Mongolia and the MC team has had impact throughout the entire country through policy change and encouraging a culture of inclusion.  Eighty-nine percent of Mongolia’s persons with disabilities are unemployed and a mere 29% of children with disabilities are in school.  MC’s team envisioned solving both of these problems with first addressing Mongolia’s infrastructure inaccessibility.  They aimed high by proposing to the Mongolian parliament an improvement model based on the U.N. Convention on Rights for People with Disabilities with special focus on transportation, education and construction.  Their diligence paid off!  Starting in February 2010, the Mongolian government now enforces new accessibility standards, the first ever in their history.  Congratulations to MC!

Regarding MC’s economic development efforts, they are creating market opportunities for rural entrepreneurs – work highly regarded by both Mongolian government and non-government agencies for MC’s efficiency and success.  In particular, the Mongol Rally has been instrumental in these efforts by providing capitol for grant programs for the rural self employed.  MC is also helping communities obtain fair microfinancing and creating agribusiness support systems, such as transporting goods to market.   To date, 5 Mongolian banks are now involved in providing fair micro credit with loans totaling $2.66 million.  Another example of MC’s most successful programs for rural entrepreneurs is a computerized grazing predictor model.  With 90% accuracy this program predicts grassland conditions for livestock grazing 60 days in advance for nomadic herders.  It proved so successful that it is now funded by the World Bank.

Finally, an update on the recent disastrous cold weather, called a Dzud, was provided.  Although not consistently cyclical, Dzud’s can occur once or twice a generation with devastating effects.  An estimated 15-20 million livestock have been lost in this year’s Dzud and with it the livelihood of thousands of nomadic families.  As a result, approximately 20,000 Mongolians will move to Ulaanbaatar in attempts to make a living in a city that does not have the infrastructure to support them.  Additionally devastating are the health implications of millions of rotting livestock carcasses.  The Mongolian government provides cash incentives for herders to gather and burn the carcasses, but sadly this time around the funds are slow in reaching those who need it.   Therefore, MC rapidly raised $25,000 to distribute directly to herders to help them get back on their feet.

Thanks again to Mercy Corps and our donors.  The team is looking forward to volunteering with MC while traveling through Mongolia this summer.  Let’s keep working hard together!

Photo Shoot and Silent Auction

Thank you to everyone that made it to Twist on Thursday night!  It was a fun night of catching up with old friends and making new ones while enjoying appetizers and muddled lime vodka sodas (the Genghis Khan!) as the sun set behind us. 

Our photography studio set up in the back of the bar was a huge success and full of energy and laughs as Amy found the perfect angle and lighting to take head shots and group portraits of all of our friends.  While photos were taken and cameras were flashing, the silent auction brought on some stiff competition for beautiful pieces of art and other goodies.  A huge thank you to everyone that bid on items generously donated by Daniel’s Broiler, Ventana, Seattle Pro Photo, Seattle Mongols, Jean Kim, Cybelle Creative, Brian Shrader, and Yasmin Mudah.  Thank you also to Twist for a great venue; the view and the Genghis Khan topped off the night.

We appreciate your support as we count down to the rally!  47 more days!

Poker Night

They came to watch Mayweather vs. Mosley. They came to play poker, foosball and pong. And they came to raise money for Baatar Hero!  Huge thanks goes out to our friends – Rob for hosting, and to Megan for organizing… they pulled together a fantastic group of players and spectators for our Texas Hold ‘Em tournament.  Thanks also to all our friends who showed up to play and kept the tournament on track.

Real & Rhapsody Rock!

Last week several co-workers at Rhapsody & Real Networks rallied a fund raising drive for Mercy Corps, and along with our employee charitable matching program raised $700! I was incredibly touched by their generosity and we’re now at 69% of our fund raising goal for Mercy Corps.  Thanks to all my awesome co-workers and a generous matching program, you guys rock!!

T-shirt Winners

Congrats to Christina  and Tim, soon to be proud new owners of Baatar Hero’s swanky t-shirts, which they have won by the mere act of joining our Facebook group and mailing list!

Don’t forget, you too may win such a choice prize:

1) Join our mailing list

2) Join our Facebook group

3) Tell us who referred you, if you win, they win.  Refer your friends and increase your odds… same deal, if they win, you win.

At the beginning of each month we’ll draw from the previous months new members and send out some free gear.

Keep spreading the word!

Glenn Bell Rocks for Baatar Hero

A big thank you to Glenn Bell and to all of those that came out to The Tractor in Ballard 3/23 to support him and Baatar Hero!

As always, Glenn put on an awesome show doing several shout-outs promoting Baatar Hero’s mission.  Glenn generously donated ALL proceeds of his CD sales for the night to BH.  And the team had yet another successful night of t-shirt sales.  Special props to his wife, Stacia, for some killer back-up vocals and t-shirt peddling, and to friends Mick and Sidney for their generous donation.

Visit Glenn’s website  for upcoming shows, http://glennbellrocks.com We highly recommend picking up a copy of his CD, Slide, at your local Sonic Boom store or at (http://cdbaby.com/cd/glennbell

Glenn Bell Rocks

Join us down at the Tractor Tavern next week to support our friend Glenn Bell!  Glenn has already helped out our team in numerous ways, and is generously donating the proceeds of CD sales from next week’s show to Baatar Hero.  We always have fun at his shows, and we know you will too.  The team will be there so come down and hang out with us, and t-shirts will be available if you haven’t picked yours up yet.  Also appearing on the bill are Red Heart Alarm and The Phantom Sons.

Join us:
The Tractor Tavern
Tuesday, March 23rd at 8pm – $6
5213 Ballard Avenue Northwest
Seattle

Happy Mongolian New Year

This Sunday marks Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year.  To celebrate, our new friend and rally mechanic adviser, Muugi, from Seattle Mongols put together a traditional wrestling tournament at the nearby Bitter Lake Community Center last weekend.  With a little help from our friend Glenn Bell, we acquired a wrestling mat from a local high school to help Muugi put on the tournament.