More than 12 months after being invited to visit Mongolia I have finally been to this wonderful country.
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My invitation to visit was from Marg Chamberlain, a Special Education teacher and colleague who is on a 2 year volunteer program with the Volunteer Service Organisation – International (VSO).
Marg is living in the eastern Mongolia town of Choibalsan and had asked me to work with her and children with disabilities and their families in the region. In Mongolia, children with disabilities usually do not go to school, have minimal access to health services and generally the only therapy they get is whatever families can provide.
Marg had arranged for families to visit the Rehabilitation Clinic in the hospital while I was there to discuss their child and, if appropriate, to be assessed.
Day one set the pace for the next few weeks. We walked into the clinic to be met by a room full of parents and children. The first child we saw was a definite candidate for Emmett, so even though this was not the proposed plan for the week, I moved to the adjoining room and gave her an Emmett treatment. I didn’t stop offering Emmett to children and adults for the whole time I was in Mongolia.
English is not a common language in most of Mongolia so we relied heavily on our wonderful translator, Bavaasan, to make it happen. She spent most of her day switching between conversations and languages, as Marg and I worked with different parents and children, often in different rooms.
As the first week hastily rushed by, there was a lot of interest in what I was doing in the Emmett sessions from parents and medical staff. They had not seen such a therapy and were intrigued with what I was doing and impressed with the results that parents and children were reporting.
It became evident that providing treatment was a great short-term benefit to the parents and their children, however teaching the parents how to use Emmett could have a lasting impact on the people. I suggested that I could teach the parents from the ‘Association of Parents with Disabled Children’ some Emmett moves in an Emm-Tech course. They were delighted with the offer.
Because wages are low and unemployment high, cost was an issue for the group. We negotiated a price, however I donated my component back to the parent group. Ross has also donated his cost.
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Ten parents were invited to the Emm-Tech course plus, of course, Bavaasan. The two sessions on Thursday and Saturday were a lot of fun with of course lots of generous Mongolian hospitality and food. My students were very enthusiastic and patient, as I discussed and demonstrated the moves in English, and then demonstrated again with Bavaasan doing the talking. The gentle approach of the technique was very compatible with the Mongolian people I met, so the parent group felt comfortable with what they were being taught.
I am grateful to Ross for creating the Emm-Tech course and therefore providing this group of parents with Emmett skills. I suspect Ross’s original desire to give people in the outback of Australia a first aid kit of Emmett moves did not extend to Outer Mongolia, however there are a number of very appreciative Mongolians now using his technique.
Greg Wills - Emmett Practitioner, Darwin.
Each of the people who were at the course had a child, partner, other family member or friend who they could use these skills with. Emm-Tech was very applicable to their lives, and would continue to be after I had left.
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A Ger is a traditional round house constructed of timber, lattice and felt that is a brilliant design; perfect for surviving the freezing Mongolian winter. Shown here is a Ger that is similar to the Preschool that is preposed for the community of displaced herder families who lost their herds in this year’s particularly severe winter. They still require funding assistance with the supply of teacher, equipment, books and a perimeter fence to buffer the children from icy winds and wild beasts. Anyone who would like to know more about the project or donate to assist in its completion, can contact Marg Chamberlain via email: marg.chamberlain@gmail.com.