Earthwatch: Mongolia

I did another Earthwatch presentation at the Elim Café this weekend, this time on my Mongolia Expedition.

It was not very well attended, but I did have at least 8 people there, so that’s not entirely bad. One group of three were there because the daughter was heading out to Mongolia herself, soon, and wanted some tips on what to expect out there. I believe she is going to volunteer at one of the orphanage/hospitals in UB (that’s short for Ulaanbaatar, their capitol city).

Once again, I had to make due with the dwindling amount of supplies I have on hand because the box of new supplies the headquarters sent me has not arrived yet. It’s ok, because I keep all the flyers and pamphlets they mail out – but since I only have one copy of those, I need to keep them and cannot let anybody take them home, as they seem to want to do. I also brought along all the books I have on Mongolia and the wildlife out there – those are always good to pass around. And to really set the mood, I had my CD of Mongolian Throat Singing playing in the background both before and after the talk.

The people at the café are very nice people, and I almost have them all sold on going somewhere with Earthwatch!

Their barrister is very much into coffee and the sustainable farming of it, so that’s rather an easy sell: Earthwatch has several expeditions dealing with that subject, down in Costa Rica.

The marketing director has a sister who is interested in one of the archaeology ones, and since I am as well I find it very easy to talk to her about the possibility of going.

As with most people I know, money is unfortunately a deciding factor. These expeditions are not free! There are numerous ways of making it work, so I keep bringing as many options to their attention as I can come up with. Hopefully, some day soon, I will be able to sit and listen to THEIR presentations!