The 7-day "Emergency Relief Campaign for Single Moms", which took place during December 1-8, 2020 was a huge success!
Thanks to your generous donations we have reached 202 individuals of 35 female-headed families from Songino-Khairkhan, the poorest district in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In cooperation with the District Administration, we selected our target families who are unable to work due to the COVID-19 and created charity baskets for each family. Our volunteer team in Ulaanbaatar has safely delivered basic supplies such as groceries, hand sanitizers, face masks, and firewood to those families to overcome the toughest times during the national lockdown.
As of January 1st, 2021 we organized two charity campaigns in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Our first charity campaign was held between January 28 and March 15, 2020. We have successfully delivered 1800 handmade multiple layer cotton face masks with PM 2.5 carbon filter insert and 3100 locally made hand sanitizers to those who are working around the clock on the frontline.
Background story...
On November 11, 2020 Mongolia's State Emergency Commission announced its first case of local transmission and enforced a strict national lockdown starting from November 12th until December 1st.
Needless to say that the extreme cold winter adds fuel to the fire. Ulaanbaatar is the world's coldest capital, experiencing temperatures as low as -40 degrees in the winter months. The strict lockdown hits the poor harder than ever, particularly those who are living in the traditional yurts (ger) districts. They are struggling to stay warm without firewood and burning whatever they find. This situation exacerbates the alarming air pollution in the capital city.
Mongolia has earned praise for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China, it suspended all incoming flights from foreign destinations in late January, quickly closed schools, put safety restrictions on businesses and inter-city travels, cancelled Lunar New Year Celebration-the biggest National Holiday and mandated the use of face mask while in public. In addition to that, all incoming travelers who are transported from overseas by emergency charter flights are quarantined for 21 days in a government-monitored facility outside the Ulaanbaatar city limit. Once the travelers completed the quarantine, they are required to stay home for another 2 weeks.
As of November 11, 2020 the country had 384 imported cases of COVID-19 and no deaths were reported due to the above mentioned timely measures. However, in less than two weeks, the number of confirmed cases has increased to 672 since its first case of local transmission was recorded.