Raising the Open Space flag in Mongolia - longish

Sun Sep 17 00:08:42 PDT 2006

With due thanks again to Peggy Holman and her Columbian adventure (2000
children.how DID you do that??) the World Bank initiative in South East Asia
has taken a couple of further steps - and as so many people asked me for an
update I am delighted to provide one.

I have been hugely privileged to "Open Space" in the past month for street
children in Laos and Mongolia - in both countries focusing on the questions
of vital importance to them from their perspective. I am sure somebody has
done work in Laos before (if not, please let's add this also to the
countries where we have raised a flag and that counts as two in a month!!)
but not too sure about Mongolia so maybe I have managed to plant another
flag for the world of Open Space??

We held the meeting at a Children's Centre some thirty kilometers outside
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. For those geographically challenged
among us, I suggest a large scale atlas where you will find Mongolia nestled
totally landlocked between Russia and China - and if you wanted two larger
neighbours I have no idea where you would look, when you have a total
population of a mere 2.5 million. With it's Soviet past (although now
independent and with an elected Parliament) the Centre has a wonderful
"soviet" look - solid, old fashioned, lots of crumbling concrete, stone cold
corridors and a splendid statue of the founder in bronze at the entrance.
Strangely (well, to me at least) the countryside was beautiful around the
Centre with fir trees and many others slowly changing from green to brown,
clear blue skies and a vast area with the most unusual collection of guest
houses - each clustered together in a "style" that apparently resembled
Mongolian / Japanese / Swiss..well so they told me!

The meeting was held in the sports hall - probably the only one with a
yellow, blue and green painted floor with the NBA logo in Mongolia I suspect
- with fantastic steel radiators lining the walls installed when radiators
were meant to give off heat not act as interior design accessories and when
pipes were just that.stuck all over the place.

In Laos and Cambodia signs came off the wall because it was too hot and
humid - here because, despite the weather being at least clement, the walls
were too cold, and just a little crumbly in places!!

Open Space produced its magic - even if I have no clue what was said for the
entire two days! We had well over 100 topics raised, some 70 with written
notes which went into the Proceedings Book and ten which we prioritized for
action points.

This helps the World Bank, Unicef, National Association of Children, Save
the Children, World Vision and others focus their efforts, both for
themselves and for the demands they can make of the host government who will
be clearly shown the priorities from the mouths of those they expect, and we
hope want, to help

BUT it also produced two days of wonderful magic for the children
themselves, released for that time from their daily grind to achieve
something in their lives, which for many means actually surviving for
another day - and when winter comes here it hits Minus 40c which means
survival is a darned tough ask. The stories you may have read about street
children living in manholes is totally true - because the heating pipes need
to be buried underground to withstand the cold this is often the only warm
place they can find.

They worked with all the sessions of a two day Open Space (sitting on chairs
in meetings for a couple of hours could not have been further from their
daily life if we had tried) although given the age range of 6 to 22 we did
have a few drop outs.oh and one small dog who contributed beautifully, but
unknowingly, as a "butterfly".but then reveled in the outside. Meetings
disappeared under trees on the edge of the forest, they sat by an empty
swimming pool, they climbed the tower of the Japanese village, they ran
everywhere. They were fed great meals, scoffed cake and sweets in their
farewell party, and after dinner the staff of the Centre and the children
ran, played games, sang songs, and soaked in the freedom, the safety, the
clean air and the warmth of the countryside.

To add to the magic we had our own brass band.battered though the
instruments were (and in several cases bigger than the children themselves)
and a little dubious the notes, the stirring sound of martial music welcomed
us all back after lunch and enlivened a few tired spirits at the end of the
day - contrasted splendidly with the disco synchronized arm waving that
followed seconds later! 

Oh yes - we were on Mongolian Television as well last night..I didn't watch
it but then how would I have known which was the news anyway?

And a final touch of Open Space magic to end a memorable event. Before
leaving Ulaanbaatar I had a chance to walk around the town and heard my
adopted name called out - "Scotch"..not the drink but the tape we struggled
to fix, and refix, to the wall !!!!  - and two of "my" children came running
up to say hello, still dressed in the orange t-shirts we had all worn for
the previous two days and still smiling from ear to ear. It's a great
feeling to make 197 new young friends in just two days, and they all know
your name in a foreign country.."Scotch"

Thank you Peggy - thank you Open Space - and welcome to Mongolia!

Nigel Seys-Phillips

Fulcrum Business Management Solutions

30 Mount Elizabeth

#04-34 Highpoint

Singapore 228519

Tel: +65 9639 2510

E-mail: nigel at fulcrum.com.sg

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