Perspective is a wonderful thing...

Yesterday one of my best friends here (another AYAD) got punched in the face on her way to work.  10.30 am in the morning, ipod in, minding her own business and was sucker punched twice in the side of the head for no obvious reason....well I guess there was a reason and unfortunately it's not one that's easy to understand...no he was not drunk, no she did not antagonise him, no it was not at 4am in the morning out the front of club and no she has never knowingly crossed paths with him before.

There are a few opinions going around on why this happened...most of them revolving around racism, Nationalism and the recent surge in neo-nazi groups in Mongolia.  Most of their anger is directed towards the Chinese however there are a few people here that would like any foreigners to get the hell out of Mongolia.   You can read more about that if you follow this link...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/mongolia-far-right

Who really knows exactly why this happened and I don't want to make assumptions but nevertheless this horrible incident swung me into some Erin question time...why am I here, do Mongolians want or actually need me here, is it right that I am here working in a job that a Mongolian could do, am I actually doing anything of purpose or is this all a bit good press for the Australian government???

Cue my mate Naranbayar...

What a face huh...I spent the day at the baby house today.  I'm glad I did as perspective is a wonderful thing.

Yes, there may be racism in Mongolia...so what, we all know there is a truck load of it in Oz and people still work their way through it.  Yes, some people may think its pointless me being here...that's fine it's not their approval I'm after.  Yes, a Mongolian may be able to do the job that I am doing however I have knowledge and experience that I can actually share and hopefully improve the very new and slowly developing field of Social Work in Mongolia....and finally yes, this program may be about putting young Australians into areas where there are foreign interests for our Government but that doesn't mean there isn't a huge opportunity to make a positive impact on others lives...including my own.

Now I'm sure this will not be the last time I will be in my own little question time session however I will remind myself again that perspective is a wonderful thing and I dont need to go far to find it.

Erin x

P.S. Luckily my friend is one tough cookie and I pity the next person who tries to take her on as she is ready.  I'm sorry that this happened to her but she is taking it with grace and she is definitely rocking the swollen/bruised look well.