An ovoo, a shamanistic and Buddhist ceremonial structure, marks a significant place in the Darhad Valley. Photo courtesy of BioRegions International.

"It was impressive to see one of the last migratory peoples in the world," said Turner, who earned a pre-med degree at MSU. "For a medical student, I saw some diseases—such as brucellosis—that I will likely never see in the states."

Turner was also teamed with Otgonjargal Badamsuren, a Mongolian medical student who assisted the BioRegions health group during the spring trip. Otgonjargal then came to Montana in July to observe American medical practices in Bozeman and Dillon.

"Many different groups come to Mongolia and offer help for just one year," Otgonjargal said. "We are very excited that (BioRegions) comes back year after year. It is a big help for the Darhad people."

During her visit to Montana, Otgonjargal has seen few young people as patients, whereas in Mongolia many of the sick are young people. "It gives me hope that I can help the younger people of Mongolia become healthier," she said.

Also in 2008, students with MSU Honors Program's Great Expeditions traveled to Mongolia and conducted nutrition surveys to create baseline data on the Mongolian diet and spent time getting to know the locals.

"We played with kids from the school for three hours," said Taylor Moorman, an English literature major from Glasgow, Mont., who hopes to become an international journalist. "None of us could speak the other's language, but we could go out and laugh. That was the best part of the entire trip."

In 2006, at the request of Dr. Purevsuren, the hospital director, MSU land resources and environmental sciences graduate student Loren Barber did bacteria cultures of the spring- and stream-fed waters used to make a ubiquitous local tea. She found herding families were not boiling their water long enough to kill diarrhea-causing E. coli. Eight minutes was needed as opposed to the traditional seconds or few minutes of boiling. Using sheets of muslin cloth, she created posters comparing the bacteria from a cup of fresh tea, to tea kept all day in a thermos.

"They were shocked at how much bacteria grew," said Barber, who wants to work in international environmental health. "The local doctor now carries those muslin posters around to educate the herders in the valley. That was really gratifying. They wanted that information, and we were able to deliver it."

Culture evolution

BioRegions has invested in helping the people of the Darhad preserve their culture by sponsoring an annual festival and art and literature contests for children at the local boarding school, and by giving grants to musicians and local artisans.

"In the first few years we visited, there was neither paint nor colored pencils available for the children except what we brought," Montagne said.

This year, BioRegions published a collection of art and writings from Darhad children entitled Visions of the Blue Valley.

The children's paintings struck MSU Honors Program student Michael Spencer, an architecture student from Willow Creek.

"Seeing the appreciation and awareness they had of their natural environment was impressive," Spencer said. "We have some of that here, but I think we could still learn a lot from the Mongolians."

"Through these efforts young people develop a stronger sense of place," Montagne said. "The more they appreciate where they live, the more they know their own values and strengths, the better equipped they'll be to make the right decisions about their future, especially in this era where globalization is sweeping across cultures everywhere."

See the Web exclusive, Mongolia Slideshow.

Return to regular view	Text-only              Email this article	Published: 11/24/2008