City of Lost Children

Last night I clicked a link on an email update from a non-profit organization that I follow which lead me to an article in the Daily Pilot by Kent Treptow. Trent wrote an article and made a photo exhibit sharing about the story of  groups of children that have made homes out of manholes in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia.

For those of you who are unaware, Ulaanbaatar is the capital of Mongolia and besides being a city that faces extreme poverty, it is also the coldest capital in the world. Throughout Kent's slideshow of photos and narrative, he shares the story of a group of children cast out onto the streets to survive  in these harsh conditions due to abandonment, abuse, or other unfavorable circumstances. The manholes exert heat from the hot water pipes, making the area a favorable place for the children to sleep. More often then not, burns will be seen on the children's clothing and body from accidently touching the hot water pipes. Some of the manholes that Kent observed contained pipes that allow access to clean drinking water for to the kids to drink. Unfortunately, the water did not come without a price. Where water is present, so are cockroaches, dogs, and rats.

Kent focuses the his last few pictures in the slideshow on the positive actions taken by the Christina Nobel Children's Foundation to help the kids get out of the manholes and in to a positive environment where they can learn, grow, and live more comfortable lives. The main solution for getting children out of the manholes and into more favorable living situations is Ger villages, which the foundation is working to provide through funding and donations. Kent also shares about a former street child who was rescued, now works for the organization to find and rescue other children, and is currently attending a university to become a camera man for television.

You can find more details on this story by  reading Kent Treptows article: "City of Lost Children," and viewing his photo slideshows at the following link:

http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2009/06/15/special_reports/mongolia/video/doc48727368f302e317521671.txt

Or, visit the Christina Nobel Foundation site to find out more about her cause and the projects the foundation had been working on in Mongolia to help resolve this challenge:

http://www.cncf.org/en/mongolia/aboutmongolia.php

Again, these sites have great information on this topic. Kent's photography is really unique and the story gives you a personal look at what these kids go through. Due to the extreme poverty levels in this location, the majority of the kids have no other option but to live this way because this is all they know. The Christina Nobel Foundation has started a "Give a Ger Fund" which builds Gers through donation money. If touched by Kent's photographs and narrative, I encourage you to start a "Ger box" allowing co workers or friends to dump extra change in and help give these kids a chance to struggle a little less.

Till Next Post,

Es Bee