CAMDA

 

One charity that comes highly recommended for its continuing grass roots work within the Nomadic community in Mongolia is CAMDA – the Cambridge Mongolian Development Appeal. CAMDA is working in the UK and in Mongolia to protect the lives and livelihood of nomads and their herds and to ensure that this unique way of life is not lost forever to future generations.

 

CAMDA is almost entirely run by volunteers.  It was the first British charity to set up a programme of relief specifically for the nomadic community of Mongolia in the aftermath of the great winter storms in 2001, which have been followed by severe droughts.  Both disasters killed many of the herds on which these people almost totally rely. As well as climatic conditions, herding is now facing a new threat in the form of increasing industrial activity, mainly mining in the rural areas. CAMDA's efforts have focused on protecting livestock within the fragile nomadic communities. Herd animals are the primary source of food and livelihood and horses are the vital resource that allow the herders to manage their sheep, goats and cattle.

 

Their current programme provides three vital lifelines: 

These projects are saving lives and encouraging sustainability within the nomadic communities by alleviating the pressures of the harsh environmental climate and the unremitting growth of industrialisation.

 

 

CAMDA Operations Manager in the field, Batsaikhan Sodnom, has reported that several local authorities in the areas next to those where CAMDA is already working, are asking if CAMDA will come in and help their herders too, especially with the refurbishment of wells to increase accessibility to vital water.

 

CAMDA is actively seeking to develop new projects to help herders maintain their livelihood, ones that are economically and environmentally sustainable and that use resources.  One project that is currently in its research stages is a training programme for herders to enable them to better engage with and benefit from the rapidly emerging tourist industry in rural Mongolia.  We hope to be able to report progress on CAMDA's involvement very soon.

 

The future is far from certain, as the nomadic communities face increasing climatic and economic threats – the need for CAMDA and the demands on it are ever increasing.  Your donation will directly benefit poorer herding communities to avoid the constant threat of animal losses – animals which are their only means of making a living.

 

If you are interested in volunteering your services whilst in Mongolia or when you are back in the UK, please contact us and we will put you in touch with someone who will be very happy to tell you more.