Eagle hunter Hairathan Sernehan is a case example of
what comes next. The five children of the 52-year-old flew
the nest a while ago. He now manages the cattle alone. “Now,
they just come to visit from time to time. And only because
they worry that my wife and I are getting too old to take care
of the animals. They enjoy their new life in Olgii – the capital
of Bayan–Ölgii Province. So I guess that, when the time
comes, they will sell the cattle and take care of us in the city.”
Even if Genghis Khan’s portrait is the main feature in
Hairathan’s winter hut, he does not care much about the dawn
of the nomadic life that has characterised Mongolian culture
for thousands of years. He pities the fact that many of the
traditions that make the country proud may also die with his
generation: “Eagle hunting, for example. You just need to see
our age. We are all well over 50. And even though there are
some youngsters still interested in learning, their numbers are
decreasing fast.”
Only the traditional wrestling and horse-riding customs
are thriving, and that’s mainly because the athletes can also
compete in similar modalities recognised abroad. “It’s not
because of tradition, but for money,” Hairathan says, critically.
“Many think of wrestling because they want to become sumo
stars in Japan.”
As many other elders do, Hairathan blames TV and the
Internet for the change, but his children refute this claim:
“Times have changed. We see the world now. And we just
want to live more comfortably,” his daughter, Aikejan, says.
Other members of the younger generation also mention
the need to get a good education in order to achieve
satisfactory personal development – something that only
cities can offer. “I like to live in Nature and be very close
to the family. But I also want to be independent, become a
professional in a technical field, and marry whoever I want,
not just the girl in the closest ger,” Jariber Bimolda, 18, says.
He feels the mining industry has good opportunities, and he
knows there is a need for skilled personnel, not labourers.
According to statistics from the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), around 900,000 of
the three million inhabitants of Mongolia still roam a territory
that is three times the size of France, but NGOs estimate that
around 40,000 people settle down every year. Most settle
on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, a burgeoning city where the
surrounding mountain slopes are now full of gers and small
wooden houses.
With rapid urbanisation, social problems have
proliferated. Unemployment is at around 60 percent in these
new settlements, which in turn instigates other issues, such as
alcoholism and crime.
Certainly, life in the city is not even close to what Erden
Bat dreamt of. “We didn’t have enough cattle to lead a good
life, so we decided to sell [them] and requested the 0.7
hectares of land we are entitled to by law in Ulaanbaatar,” he
explains. The government allocated the family a plot about 10
kilometres east of the city centre, where they built their ger.tOp Left The daughter
of Hairathan Sernehan
collects cow dung for
the kitchen fire. She has
moved to the city but
visits her parents during
winter to help out
be LOw Left
Bayarshaikhan hugs
her daughter inside
her ger in Ulaanbaatar.
The government has
subsidised families with
newer, cleaner stovestOp right A nomad
family based in the
desert takes care of its
camelsbe LOw right A family
builds a ger in their 0.7
hectares of land that
they have been entitled
by law to occupyUnemployment is at around 60 percent
in these new settlements, which
in turn instigates other issues,
such as alcoholism and crime