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Consular Section Helps Verbist Center
The Verbist Center is an orphanage that houses 70 children from the ages of 3 to 18. All of the children are former street kids who have been abandoned by their families. The Center is run by Lucille Munchi from Cameroon. The Consular Section obtained a grant from the International Women's Association of Mongolia (IWAM) for MNT 725,000 for materials (dirt, sand, plants, seeds, and paint) to refurbish the playground. The Embassy community has also raised an additional MNT 500,000 for books, arts and craft supplies, educational materials, and practical items for the Center. John Koretke, Post RSO, deserves special thanks for all his hard work raising the additional funds for the Center.
Over 25 volunteers from the Embassy have participated in workdays at the Center. All the rocks and broken glass were removed and the play area was covered with new, clean dirt and sand. The volunteers then planted grass and flowers to improve the appearance of the playground and make the area more safe for the children to play. Over the summer, Embassy volunteers plan to spend more time with the kids at their summer camp reading, playing games, working on crafts and helping with English language study. In the fall, we hope to do more painting and cleanup work to improve the overall appearance and safety level of the Center.