Welcome to Donna’s Mongolia blog

In less than a month, I will be leaving for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia as part of a Canadian Co-operative Association’s credit union coaching mission.  Participating in the mission are ten credit union professionals from across Canada, who will head for Mongolia during the first week of August.  CCA’s volunteer co-ordinator, Sarah Feldberg, and I will be joining the mission on August 14, to provide staff support for the coaches and to meet with some of our credit union and co-operative partners.

But before I talk about this specific mission, a few words about CCA and its coaching program.

The Canadian Co-operative Association is a national association representing co-operatives and credit unions across Canada. It’s mission is to promote, develop and unite co-operatives and credit unions for the benefit of people in Canada and around the world.  In addition to its work in Canada, CCA manages an international development program which works with partner organizations in other countries to help alleviate poverty through co-operation.

The international program receives much of its funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), as well as from such organizations as the Canadian Red Cross and the World Bank.  This funding is supplemented with money raised by the Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF), which is essentially CCA’s fundraising arm.  In many ways, CDF is the co-operative sector’s charity of choice, and donations come in from both co-operative organizations and individuals across Canada.

Over the past few years, CCA has been managing credit union coaching programs in four countries:  Uganda, Ghana, Malawi and Mongolia.  The Canadian participants are volunteers with extensive experience in credit union management.  It is a privilege for me to have an opportunity to join this group, and I will be forever grateful to those who selected me for the mission.

Before my departure, I plan to use this blog to talk a little about how I am preparing for my journey, and what I have been learning about Mongolia.  While in Mongolia, I hope to report at least daily (internet access permitting) on my experiences in this fascinating country.