After a very sucessfull stint at a Peace Corps Volunteer, a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader and a Kiva Volunteer, Miss Amber is due back home today! What a wonderful journey for Miss Amber. Love her mom!

Hubby received a gift from our daughter for him to pick out a person to give a micro loan to. He picked Ariunzaya in Darkhan, Mongolia. http://www.kiva.org/lend/311909 Mrs. Ariunzaya is 32 years old and she lives with her husband and 2 children in Darkhan, the second largest city of Mongolia. They live in their own [...]

The China Study Explained – http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com/2009/11/china-study-explained.html The China Study is considered to be one of the best and most thorough epidemiological studies on human health ever conducted. The New York Times, in typical absurdly idiotic fashion (like when they told us all about the WMD’s to help create a national panic that led to ‘Iraqi [...]

Amber had given me a $25 gift certificate for a Kiva loan, for Mother’s Day.  I selected a loan from someone in Mongolia, and actually one of the areas that we visited during my visit to Amber, over 2 years ago.  I’m interested to see how this works out!  Here is the specific link to [...]

New content on Amber’s Kiva happenings. http://partners.kiva.org/updates/partner/386509?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referrer&utm_campaign=fb-like-update-partner Amber is coming home for the her sister’s wedding. We had to schedule it, so that when she goes back to the Peace Corps, she’ll not have left the country 90 days prior to her last date. Oh, and we’ll be getting a new family member at that [...]

Here is a new post that concerns Amber’s Kiva activities. http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2011/03/27/a-field-partner-grows-from-the-pilot-to-active-stage/ And here are some interesting facts about the K14 group, that Amber is a part of from the Kiva organization…. http://fellowsblog.kiva.org/2011/03/14/kiva-fellows-by-the-numbers/ Enjoy <3 Gaileee

http://peacecorpsmongolia.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/happy-holidays-from-mongolia/ Take a look at Amber’s new blog post with her adventure in Mongolia, as a 3rd year Peace Corps Volunteer Leader, and KIVA person!

Mongolian Borrowers in the Dairy Industry: wp.me/p4kiU-4VO See PCVL/KIVA Amber Barger’s post #fb Kiva Stories from the field.  Gaileee Here is a little snippit from Amber’s post. There are several obstacles facing Mongolia’s dairy industry:1) Inadequate collection and treatment infrastructure causes 1/3 of milk to spoil on the way to a processing facility 2) Lack [...]

A Wondrous Puzzle Ulis Travels Jason’s Epic Tale Bob’s Mongologue Neace going with Peace to the East It’s the Newberry Life Yes We Khan Mark & Kara’s Travels Emma in Mongolia Genghis Jhan son of the midwest in the far east’s blog Cucumbers and Prayers Jhetts Peace Corps Mongolia M21′s blogs!  Enjoy!

I spoke to Amber earlier in the week. She has been honored to be the master of ceremonies during the upcoming M21 induction ceremony. That is just so cool! (proud mama!)

Amber looks forward to using her two years of experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer to assist me in my Kiva Fellowship. Please follow Amber over the next year as she tries to give you a look into Mongolian borrowers, culture and business practices, among other things. Amber Barger in an rural area outside of [...]

What? M19 – Mongolia set number 19 Peace Corps Volunteer, and now a KIVA 12, the 12th set to go out into the world. Here is the article introducing the K12′s! 23 July 2010 by Gabriel Francis, Kiva Fellows class 12, FUDECOSUR Costa Rica Hello from beautiful San Francisco! kiva fellows class 12 The KF12 [...]

In the June 2010 issue of the National Geographic, I found it cool that two Mongolian peeps were listed as 2010 Emerging Explorers.  Each year the National Geographic Emerging Explorers Program selects rising talents who push the boundaries of discovery, adventure, and global problem solving.  The 2010 class consists of amazing individuals who are innovators [...]

Here is a website that has instructions on building a Mongolian Yurt……don’t they know it isn’t called a Yurt?  It is a Ger! gaileee http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-yourself-a-portable-home—a-mongolian-yurt/

Wow,  it seems like yesterday that two years ago Amber Sue went off to the United States Peace Corps.  Mine you, I’ve seen her when I went to visit, and we had her come home for Christmas/New Years this past season.  She’ll come home briefly also to do some KIVA training, go to a wedding, [...]

Amber wishes everyone  a happy Tsaagan Sar, or Lunar New Year. This past week Amber attended an awards ceremony hosted by the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce titled “Silk Road Awards.” The awards are focused at foreign projects, programs, NGOs, and individuals working in Mongolian business development. There were mostly awards for organizations, like the [...]

Maybe this is old news to y’all, but this was featured in the Sunday Paper insert the Parade Magazine. Enjoy! A Bigger, Better Peace Corps Aaron Williams is the new director of the Peace Corps, a U.S. government agency that places volunteers around the world. President Obama has said the Peace Corps should double in [...]

Amber wrote up a very enlightening blog post about the cultural ways of Mongolians, and how that is enhancing the H1N1 spreading (that is my interpretation of it). Go read and see. http://http://peacecorpsmongolia.wordpress.com/ Gaileee

MSNBC did a series of videos on Mongolia. At about the time that I was there this past summer. Jim Carl on Mongolia Bone-Jarring Journey to Reindeer People Growing Gobi Desert How do you shoot an ankle bone? Boy Jockeys race in Mongolian Olympics Enjoy! Gaileee

Here are the blogs listed on Amber’s side bar of her sitemates, the M19′s, M18′s & the new M20′s. Read and enjoy! Gaileee Arvaiheer Sitemate Blogs: The Five Year Plan Robin in Mongolia Brandon AlphaAmigo site Patrick in Mongolia There and back again M19 Blogs Amber’s Mongolia Peace Corps Experience Leslie & Nathan in Mongolia [...]

by Louisa Lim of NPR Series on Mongolia. Mon:  Mongolians Seek Fortune In Gold, But At A Cost Gold Rush Tue:  Global Financial Crisis Hits Mongolia’s Grasslands ‘Subprime’ Herders Wed:  Widespread Alcohol Abuse Clouds Mongolia’s Future Epidemic Of Alcoholism Thu:  A New Beat Gives Young Mongolia A Voice, Identity Hip-Hop Steppes Fri: Ancient Mongolian Competition [...]

Because they are nomadic and move three to four times a year, Mongolian herders have developed a remarkable wood and wool house that can be taken apart in just a few hours and can be easily transported on a pack animal. This called a ger (or “Yurt”), and it is remarkably cool in the summer, [...]

So the nomads live in these round Ger’s.  Essentially living off of the land and their livestock.  But Mongolians do have access to technology. One would see solar panels attached to the Ger’s or freestanding on poles.  The Solar Panels would send the energy into a car battery.  Then the car battery would be used [...]

Here it is!  Amber’s post about our trip to the south…. http://peacecorpsmongolia.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/traveling-through-the-gobi-desert/ Enjoy!