A public service announcement
on Sarah in Mongolia (Mongolia), 31/Mar/2010 12:27, 34 days ago
Hopefully you have all see the news reports on the BBC and heard of the appeal the red cross is having right now to try and help the hundreds and thousands of herders in Mongolia cope with the awful winter we have been having. This weather phenomenon is called a dzud and it refers to an extremely cold winter with lots of snow that follows on from a very dry summer meaning there is very little fodder available. This results in animals dying and because the herders rely on their animals for food and to make money there are now people as well as animals starving.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8592408.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8593302.stmAlthough it is now warming up its currently around freezing most days. This actually isnt a good thing necessarily because when there is the extreme cold there is no snow, something you don't always realise is it can be too cold for snow to form. Now we are getting a lot more snow and this is leading to more problems for these families.It is easy for us to forget about this in UB where we still have plenty of food and the snow gets blown away pretty quick and we have lots of central heating. But we are starting to see the signs here too - it started with prices going up for basic foods like potatoes. Now the meat that is on sale is looking pretty scrawny and isn't too tasty. None of this obviously compares to the devastation occuring in the countryside, but it starts to make life for those in the city living on ridiculously low wages more difficult as well.