Толгойт Халуун Ус - Bathing in Tolgoit

Many of the students I have met at this college live in nearby Tolgoit, a western peri-urban informal settlement of Ulaanbaatar. There are two main community bathing houses there in the 3rd Khoroo (informal village) of our Songinokhairkhan district, so when I was invited by the Gender Centre for Sustainable Development there, I was interested in visiting one, with regard to accessibility. (website unreliable - alternatively see this.)

Миний ярилцаж байсан коллежийн ихэнх оюутнууд Улаанбаатарын баруун хэсэгт орших хагас хотожсон суурин болох Толгойтод амьдардаг. Сонхинохайрхан дүүргийн 3-р хороонд хоёр нийтийн халуун усны газар байдаг. Нийгмийн Хөгжлийн Жендер Төвөөс намайг тэнд урьсан. Би бүх хүмүүст нээлттэй эсэхийг мэдэхээр нэгэнд нь очиж үзэхээр болсон. (вебсайт боломжгүй байгаа тул эндээс үз.)

Bayarsgalan and Enebish (of GCSD) met me punctually at our college and we drove to Chimbat's bath-house, the newer of the two, where the community NGO had secured a room - donated by the proprietor - to be adapted for 'universal accessibility'. Encouragingly, the community workers had sourced and photocopied the Mongolian Norm MN 301-04-01. Chimbat herself and a staff member watched as we inspected the tiled 2.3 x 2.6 metre room she was offering for the project. Currently there is a hand-shower in one corner (with a high mounting) and a wooden duckboard.

Баясгалан Энэбиш (НХЖТ-ийн) хоёр надтай манай коллеж дээр цагтаа уулзаадЧинбатын халуун ус руу машинаар очсон. Тэндхийн эзэн нь хандивласан нэг өрөөг ТББ-нхан хүн бүрт хүртээмжтэй өрөө болгохоор авчихсан байсан. Мэргэжилтэнгүүд Монголын стандарт MN 301-04-01-ийг үндэслэсэн байсан ба түүнчлэн хуулбарыг нь байрлуулсан байсан. Чинбатын төсөлд зориулж өгсөн 2.3 x 2.6 хэмжээтэй өрөөг биднийг хянаж байхад тэр ажилтантайгаа мөн тэнд байсан. Өрөөний нэг буланд гар угаагч болоод шалан дээр тавьдаг модон хавтан байсан.

Certainly some wall hooks would be useful, but Bayarsgalan's proposal for a new bath and an internal wall and seemed ambitious, especially when I learned of a nine-day deadline, and negligible budget. The access to the centre entrance up steps and over a 150mm high pipe in the corridor would present greater accessibility challenges. (At 1:12, over 3m of temporary ramps, which could also present a lifting hazard for staff..) I explained that enlarging the 680mm door opening would involve considerable business disruption and some skilled labour or supervision in order to replace it with a wider one. Textured wall guide strips for blind users may be given a lower budgetary priority, given the narrow corridor width. I reflected on my own bathroom adaptations when I was temporarily wheelchair bound. Perhaps some reliable secured handrails would be a practical adaptation.

Ханын өлгүүрүүд тэнд байх нь дээр боловч Баярбаясгалан зөвхөн шинэ банн болоод тусгаарлах хана санал болгож байсан. Сүүлийн хугацаа нь 9 хоног бас санхүү бараг байхгүй гэдгийг нь би мэдээд түүнийг өөрийн сонирхолын төлөө байгааг ойлгосон. Орох замд 150мм-ийн өндөртэй усны хоолой байдаг нь хүмүүст саад болдог. ( хэрэв 3м-н урттай байнгын бус налуу шат байрлуулбал үүнийг зөөхөд ажилчдад хэцүү байх болно). Хаалгыг 680м болгон өргөтгөвөл бизнесд таатай бус төдийгүй энэ тохиолдолд ажиллаж чадах ажилчид хэрэг шаардагдах болно гэж би тайлбарласан. Хараагүй хүмүүст зориулсан тэмтэрж болох барзгар хана, өргөн багатай коридор зэргийг тэд чухал шаардлагатай бус төсөвт оруулж магалгүй байсан. Би тэргэнцэртэй байсан үеэ эргэн санаад магадгүй бариул байх нь илүү тохиромжтой гэж бодсон. (to be continued soon)

It seemed time and money limitations might work against the potential for a community project for vocational students, but I suggested a proposal be put forward to local people and students to engender participation over a longer period. I was told that some research on disability and accessibility needs in the area had already been done. Could a user be found, I now persisted, who might be consulted before and after the alterations, and who might collaborate as a future champion / advocate for a wider programme- I was lobbying for grassroots participation. Next, spontaneously, I was taken to visit a local person with disability.

(Mongolian version to be continued...)

The car was parked a few dusty blocks away at a Ger compound, with a ramshackle building. The ubiquitous guard dogs in this case were mere pups and a dusty mop of a terrier. We passed a ger with children sitting outside in the gravelly yard, and approached Enkhsaikhan's shack. I followed into the dirt floored lobby over a high wooden threshold and then stepped up into a darkened but richly furnished room, with carpets and tiered suitcases, as is customary. Enkhsaikhan a man who looked about thirty, was lying on a bed in a corner with only his head visible. Introductions were made, and when no limb was extended from under his bedsheet I firmly touched his shoulder in an attempt at greeting. I was told the man had no arms and legs. But later in the conversation about the bathhouses, including Khataanbaatar's, where he had previously worked, he showed an arm with amputated fingers. Two young boys sat and listened. Enkhsaikhan said that in his opinion the main issue for the bath house was the water temperature and the hard water due to a shallow well. He bathed weekly at Khataanbaatar's, separately from his able seven year old son, who currently was sitting at the foot of the bed. He did not feel he could comment on wheelchair accessibility, as he had (understandable given the environment, I thought) rarely used the wheelchair he had been given. It reminded me of winter here (...December blog) when afterwards I heard that the man had previously been sleeping rough in the cold, alcohol afflicted, before the amputations to his hands and feet for frostbite.

(Mongolian version to be continued...)