A recent addition to our Mongolian reading list has been Young Mongols, Forging Democracy In The Wild, Wild East, by Aubrey Menard. This powerful, inclusive book introduces readers to modern Mongolia through the stories of young leaders fighting to make their country a better, more democratic place – https://www.youngmongols.com/

‘Its intersectional perspective explores the complexity of Mongolia today: the urban planning and pollution issues that plague the capital city of Ulaanbaatar; the struggles of women, the LGBTQIA+ population, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities to claim their equitable places in society; the challenge of providing education in the world’s least densely-populated country to prepare the workforce of tomorrow; and how to fairly divide the spoils of the country’s vast mineral resource wealth.

This rising generation of Mongolians is already wielding real power and shaping their country’s future. Their work will determine whether the country is able to overcome its development and democratization challenges, its relationship to the world, and who the winners (and losers) will be in Mongolian society.’

November 16th (2020) was Mongolia’s National Pride Day  – honouring the anniversary of Chinggis Khan’s birthday. On this day, the author of Young Mongols also launched the #proudmongols series of posts asking ‘why are you a #proudmongol?’ We also asked members of our female team of trip assistants why they are proud to be Mongolian:

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Trip assistant and office manager Tuya

Trip assistant Dashka

Trip assistant Pujee

Trip assistant Davaa

Trip assistant Odnoo

Trip assistant Ariuka

Trip assistant Zumbee

Trip assistant Amaraa

At EL we call ourselves ‘manaikhan’ – ours or our people in Mongolian. Another word is family.

We’re more than just a standard corporate tour company focusing on profit. As a registered social travel enterprise, we look to make sure our work benefits Mongolia’s local projects, people and communities as much as it benefits our guests and us as a business. We’re a little different in we believe everyone is equal. That means our guests are equal to our Mongolian team who are equal to the extended Mongolians we work in long-term community partnership with. Respect is at the core of what we believe in and we see ourselves as part of the Mongolian communities we have been visiting and supporting since EL was created.

Our approach is not to run the business solely on the basis of a financial bottom line. Not only do we create Mongolian experiences that deliver something useful to the local communities we work with but we also consider the social equity of the people we employ.

We empower our team through our free seasonal training and development programme providing them with the opportunity to aim to be the best they can be and support them in their aim. We invest in their future and create long-term employment opportunities through the Mongolian experiences that we run. All members of our team all receive a fair and respectful salary as well as support. Our integrity (and reputation) is something we’re very proud of!

To learn more about who we are – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/who-we-are/  or the style of Mongolia experiences we offer – https://www.eternal-landscapes.co.uk/mongolia-tours/