Melinda Soos, Mongolia - VSO
27 May 2010
VSO volunteer Health Manager, Melinda Soos, shares her
experiences of living and working in regional Mongolia.
Greetings from Mongolia where I work as an Organisational
Development Adviser at the rural government-funded Uvurkhangai
Regional Diagnostic and Treatment Centre (URDTC) in
Arvaikheer. The Centre treats 15,000 patients annually and
has 272 staff. I assist top management to build their
leadership, planning, and control capacities, as well as to orient
the URDTC towards a more client-centred service provision. I
was recruited and trained by Australian Volunteers International
(AVI) in early 2009, and posted to sunny Mongolia in August last
year to work under the auspices of Volunteer Service Overseas
(VSO), whose mission it is to promote volunteering to address
poverty and disadvantage. I will hold this post for twelve
months.
Mongolians are resilient people. Once Mongolia bloodlessly
became independent almost two decades ago, the Soviet "capital
funds" were withdrawn. Food prices soared, State jobs
disappeared and some who could no longer afford heating to stave
off the devastating continental winters, returned to the safety of
their past nomadic lives. Relatively well-paid clinicians
found themselves in the same food queues as street sweepers.
Mongolia has a population of 2.6 million who have a life
expectancy of 66 years. One third live below the poverty line
and unemployment is up to 50% in some towns. This background
provides rich challenges for volunteers. Many of the issues a
health manager experiences in Australia are similar here: thinking
strategically, budgeting, managing and training people, and
building partnerships. Comparatively, the resources here are
severely reduced. For example, I have only a whiteboard and
markers for the two weekly English Clubs I teach; no printer, paper
or teaching resources for the 67 attendees crammed into rooms.
Each day the most important questions for me are "How can this
be done effectively?" and "What is the most sustainable
approach?" It's often easy to develop training for my
enthusiastic Mongolian colleagues, but it's much harder to work
towards changing current operational structures and systems.
A Communist-influenced "sense of entitlement" linked with low
morale, job satisfaction and few opportunities for personal
development obstruct this process. There is a great emphasis
on planning but not on how to develop appropriate activities to
achieve goals using available and appropriate resources
effectively.
My colleagues are surprised that management meetings are
regularly held and well-attended in Australia. Being
consistent in word and deed is extremely powerful. My first
challenge has been to integrate myself as part of the management
team, build confidence, develop a two-way learning environment, and
gain their trust. Without trust, my work will fail.
The role of a health manager in Mongolia is a diverse and unique
one. The support of both AVI and VSO enables volunteers to
overcome cultural differences, build strong relationships, and
access vital resources. The ethic of both organisations means
my role was requested by the URDTC; I pass my skills on to my
colleagues. Volunteering promotes development. It has
also challenged me personally not only to become more resilient -
it's -26°C as I write this - and cook cabbage in twenty different
ways, but to think laterally, hone my perception and consider my
values. When you've been told for the seventh time your
training has been cancelled, you're living through the worst
winter, tzud, in 30 years, or you're grounded indefinitely due to a
state of emergency, laughter is your key to survival. Being a
volunteer is an honour and a privilege. If ever you have the
opportunity to make this kind of difference, grasp it, do your
best, and most of all, learn from it.
For more information on Australian Volunteers International and
the VSO/AVI partnership, visit www.australianvolunteers.com/vso