In 2011 GoHelp established a partnership with a Mr Dashdondog who runs a Mobile library service, with GoHelp’s help he was able to build on his current success and travel further afield to offer his service to hundreds of children throughout western Mongolia.

Mr Dashdondog a talented and popular children’s writer has devoted the summer months of the last twenty years to travelling with his mobile library offering children the chance to access books they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

GoHelp recognised the valuable work that Mr Dashdondog has achieved, and wished to help expand the project, with our help this summer, the library has travelled a vast distance to far western parts of Mongolia reaching areas that are often overlooked by such initiatives.

This summer the Mobile Library travelled through the provinces of Uvurkhangai, Bayankhongor and Govi-Altai covering almost 2000 kilometres. Offering a new experience to hundreds of children and leaving the legacy of an appetite for literature which is Mr Dashdondog’s aim for the project ‘encouraging a love of reading’. He has become concerned by the quality of available reading material and sees children losing interest in reading- his intention is to reverse this trend.

As the library travels to each ‘soum’ or district of a province Mr Dashdondog sets up the facility by a local well known establishment and waits as word of mouth spreads the news of his arrival. Depending on the demand and the hospitality of the locals Dashdondog shapes his summer schedule accordingly.

There are times when he will set-up beside a ger in a plain steppe and the neighbouring family’s children will ride to the library to read. Over 180 children have regularly read books from the Mobile Library as well as playing games and taking part in reading competitions organised at the library. Mr Dashdondog’s initiative is supported by his lectures that he regularly organises for parents during his trips, where he highlights the importance of reading with their children and how reading can greatly influence a child’s development.

Go Help is planning to extend our partnership with Dashdondog in 2012 and hope to see the Mobile Library travelling along the routes that most Mongolia Charity Rally participants take when driving to Ulaanbaatar. Bayan-Olgii, Khovd, Govi-Altai, Bayankhongor and Uvurkhangai provinces are most commonly travelled through and teams have a chance to meet the library en-route and see first hand how money raised from their hard work is reaching and benefiting the lives of many children in the countryside.