Mongolia is located in the center of Asia, nestled between Russia to the north and China to the south. With a population of only 3 million people in a geographic area the size of Alaska, Mongolia is the least densely populated country in the world. With livestock out numbering people eight to one, one quarter of Mongolians still live and practice the traditional pastoral nomadic life-style living in traditional felt tents called “gers” year-round. Another quarter are semi-nomadic, clustering around towns during the winter months. The remaining half of the population is urbanized, with one in three Mongolians living in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar.

This massive economic shift ended state supported welfare, and changed nearly every facet of Mongol life. Even teachers earn the equivalent of $240 a month, and doctors make $200 a month. 32% of Mongolians still live below the poverty line, surviving on less than one dollar a day. Inflation has soared to over 26%, severely straining an already fragile economy. A lack of infrastructure makes resources scarce and difficult to obtain. Meeting the basic monetary necessities of life is becoming increasingly difficult for a growing number of Mongolians, and the resulting income gap means the poor are being left even farther behind.

During the winter of 2009 and 2010, Mongolia faced its harshest winter in forty years causing the death of many of the herders’ livestock. The effect of 4.5 million deaths of livestock by April of 2010, equaling 10 percent of the country’s livestock, has had grave consequences for an already impoverished country which 50 percent of citizens make a living through herding.  Mongolia's poorest often migrate from the countryside when they lose all of their livestock, giving up the traditional nomadic way of life. They move with their homes, "gers" (yurts), to the outskirts of the cities. These sprawling "ger districts" have no running water or electricity and surround the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. These ger districts have no running water and are full of unsanitary, open pit toilets, making  communicable diseases rampant. Mongolia is also one of the coldest countries in the world. In winter, the homeless in Ulaanbaatar take refuge from the cold under the streets next to the steam pipes of the centralized heating system. Sixty percent of income is used for heating in the winter. High unemployment, malnutrition, poor access to clean drinking water, alcoholism, lack of opportunity, and barriers to obtaining a formal education all pose major challenges to Mongolians. In 1998, 27.02 percent of Mongolians were living under a dollar a day (UN Common Database 1998). Economic losses currently estimated at $62 million (Agence France-Presse 2010). The full effects of this devastation will take years to fully realize. 

On the contrary, the prospect of coal, gold, copper, and uranium mining in Mongolia has attracted a substantial amount of interest from Western countries. While this may bring more social stability to the country, it is unclear as to how the government will manage the influx of capital to benefit citizens and the long-term effects it may have on the environment and the herding lifestyle. Foreign mining workers also pose a threat of increased spread of diseases including HIV and viral hepatitis.

There is a great need for assistance within Mongolia. With a literacy rate of 98%, and 36% of the population under the age of 18, there is a large, young, educated population ready for change. Additionally, there are many young, committed, medical professionals eager to help, but their ability to provide adequate medical care is compromised due to lack of resources and training.