Sunday, Eisenhower Day of Fellowship

The Agenda was light for Sunday.  We had a luncheon scheduled for noon, and nothing else.  We hadn't had a chance to do much in the way of shopping for souvenirs or anything since we arrived, so Mr. T and Mr. S offered to take us to a cashmere shop or two.  We met at 9:00 and went to our first destination, "Cashmere World."  It was closed.  We went on to the next place and it was closed as well.  Seems most of these stores have switched to their winter hours and open much later.  So we decided to do a little site seeing in UB.

Zaisan Memorial honoring Soviet troops killed
in support of Mongolia

We drove to the south side of the city and through many new apartment complexes that were either recently built, or being built.  We drove partway up a hill, got out the car, and walked the rest of the way up.  At the top was a monument to Russian soldiers.  At the start of the 1900's, Mongolia was a part of the Qing Dynasty.  Following its fall in 1911 and the creation of the Republic of China, China still claimed Mongolia as  part of it's newly established country. Mongolia was struggling for independence, however there was little coordination in the local rebellions, and they were easily put down by Chinese troops.  Mongolia appealed to nations around the world - Russia, the United States, Japan, France and others to help it achieve independence.

As a result of the Belshevik Revolution in Russia, Baron Ungern, led his White Army troops into Mongolia in 1920 defeating the Chinese troops there.  With the Chinese occupying troops out of the way, and a White Army threat ensconced on its southern border, in 1921 Bolshevik Russia decided to support the establishment of a Communist Government and Army in an Independent Mongolia.  The combined Russian, and newly formed Mongolian Army removed the rest of the Chinese troops and the remaining White Army forces from Mongolia, and its Independence was declared on July 11th, 1921.

The monument has a large ring with a mural depicting the history of the relationship, starting with the Mongolian Revolution, and ending with the embrace of socialism.
The view from the top was striking, to see all of UB stretched out below.
The threat of Japanese Imperialism with the invasion of neighboring Manchurian in 1931 cemented the bonds between Russia and Mongolia even further.  During the Soviet-Japanese war of 1939 Russian troops successfully defended the Mongolian borders.  All of this is a long way of explaining the gratitude that Mongolians feel for the protection and support from the Russian troops.

One of the striking things we observed from atop the hill was the pollution.  The northern side of the city, known as the Ger District, is unlike the high-rises and Soviet Style housing blocks of downtown UB. It is a collection of roughly 5,000-50,000 sq ft fenced in yards with small houses.  In downtown UB the power plants are all combined heat and power plants and pump hot water/steam throughout the city.  Most every building in the downtown area is hooked up to this central heating system.  The plants all burn coal, but at least they are centralized, and thus reasonably efficient.  In the Ger District every home is heated with a coal stove.  Homes here have only been using this type of heat for about a week now, and you can see the resulting thick grey layer that has already settled over the northern part of the city.  Over the course of the next month it will slowly envelope the entire city in a gray sooty haze that will leave a black film on everything, and prevent people from seeing more than a few hundred kilometers in any one direction.  It will last for 5-6 months.

We left the monument and Liz got to do her Cashmere shopping as the stores had opened.  The Mongolian cashmere industry has been on the upswing for 30 years and it was evident from the quality of the products available.  But more on that later when I get to visit the largest cashmere factory in Mongolia.

We returned to the hotel and as we were pulling in, were witness to a moment in history.  As I had mentioned previously, we are staying in the first hotel ever built in Mongolia.  It was built by the Communist ruler, Tesdenbal in 1961.  Here on Peace Avenue, the Government House is at the center, one building from that was the Communist Party Headquarters, and adjacent to that is our hotel.  In 1954 a 14 foot tall Bronze statute of Lenin was erected atop an equally tall plinth outside the hotel.  It stood there, a central symbol of Mongolia's communism since that time.  In 1990 Mongolia did away with a single party system.  Since that time, while there have been other parties, the new Republican Party which was a change in name only from the former communist party still held control.  In elections this year, the Democratic Party won control of both the Parliament and the Presidency in the wake of a massive corruption scandal that landed the former Republican Party President in jail.  On Sunday Mongolia took down the last remaining bronze statute of Lenin (the statutes of Stalin had already been removed) on public property in the city.

Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP/GettyImages

We missed the actual removal as we were already close to being late for our Eisenhower Day of Fellowship event.  I have borrowed an image off the web of the removal.  As we left the hotel for the event, a strap was around the statute of the founder of the first constitutionally socialist state and he was being chiseled off his base.

Every year many Eisenhower Fellows from around the world gather in their home country on or around this date to celebrate a day of fellowship.  A day to come together and talk of our common goals, to network, and simply enjoy the friendship of each other.  I had the pleasure to celebrate my first such day here in Mongolia among an amazing group of mostly women fellows from Mongolia.  we were joined by recently appointed US Ambassador to Mongolia, Piper Campbell, and USAID Mission Director Francis Donovan.  I draw attention to the fact that the fellows were mostly women intentionally.  As a side note  I have been struck by the incredible number of women in positions of power here - it is a heartening thing to see and it might be by chance, but the vast majority of the leaders I have met with in Mongolia have been women.

It was a relaxing luncheon in an amazing venue.  As it was described to us, in the 1940's and 1950's "Ulaanbaatar was a shack. [Marshal Choibalsan] wanted to build a place he could welcome foreign dignitaries."  And he did.  This building, while not sprawling in size, was regal, beautiful and elegant.  It's ceiling murals and gold gilded fixtures would rival anything of the time in Washington, Paris, or London.  For almost 10 years Choibalson charted the course of Communist Mongolia from what is now known as the Marshal Palace.  It is in that place that we celebrated our Fellowship and leadership interests in the name of President Eisenhower.

From left to right:  Naranstetseg Unenburen (2001 Fellow and Director of Khaan Bank’s Retail Bank West), Bolormaa Tumendemberel (2001 Fellow and President of Mongolian Public Health Professionals’ Association ), Khulan Khashbat (2001Fellow and Governance Consultant/Lawyer), Ambassador Piper A. W. Campbell, Batchimeg Migeddorj (2010 Fellow and Member of the State Great Khural of Mongolia, ), Nathan L’Etoile (2012 Fellow), Elizabeth L’Etoile, Oyun Sanjaasuren (2001 Fellow and Member of the State Great Khural of Mongolia and Minister of Nature, Environment, and Green Development), Charles Montgomery (US Embassy Staff), Ariunaa Tserenpil (2006 Fellow and Executive Director of Mongolia’s Art’s Council) , Khashchuluun Chuluundorj (2007 Fellow and Professor at the School of Economics of National University of Mongolia), Francis A. Donovan (USAID Mission Director)