Photos of Children of Mongolia

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Children of Mongolia

Mongolian children are like kids anywhere but hardened by the climate. They are encouraged to participate in traditional culture, as seen at the yearly Naadam festivals. Many children come dressed in traditional clothes and participate in horse racing - boys learn to handle horses at an early age and are talented jockeys. They also practice archery and Mongolian wrestling, and little boys may be dressed as real wrestlers. Both boys and girls learn to play the Morin Khuur, Mongolia’s national instrument, the fiddle with a carved horse head.

Electric car
 
Boy with camera
 
Little wrestler
 
Young horsemen
 
Riding a train
 
Quad bike ride
 
Mongolian archery
 
Young monk
 
Boy with Morin Khuur
 
Cheerful boys
 
Girl with Morin Khuur
 
Blowing bubbles
 
Traditional costumes
 
Little wrestler
 
Little Buryat girl
 
Toy cars photo
 
Boy jockey
 
Children on tank
 
Children posing
 
Taking a photo
 
Children relaxing
 
Girls playing
 
Two friends
 
Brushing teeth
 
Fetching water
 
Playing videogame
 
Washing up
 
Girl dance performance
 
Girl singing
 
Girl dance performance
 
Mongolian dance
 
Rap dance
 
Children's performance
 
Phallic rock
 
Playing ball
 
Boy and his horse
 
Boy on his horse
 
Boys on bikes
 
Boy on bike
 
Three young girls
 
Fetching water
 
Cutting firewood
 
Children in park
 
Girl at home
 
Young Kazakh boys
 
Young horseman
 
School girls, Ölgii
 
School boys, Ölgii
 

The Lotus Children’s Centre in Ulaanbaatar is a Non-Government Organisation helping orphaned children and employing young people who live in the orphanage. It was started in 1993 by an Australian yoga teacher, Didi Kalka, who was affected by the plight of street children and started helping them; this grew from caring for street kids to abandoned babies, and a Kindergarten was started in 1997. It evolved into a primary school, including a program for children with special needs. Each summer there are summer camps for the children. There is such a camp near Gachuurt, on the banks of the Tuul River. The children have a great time and perform a program of traditional dances. It is a beautiful organisation, and volunteers from all over the world may work there for a time.

The photos here give an idea of what it is like to grow up in Mongolia.