Murun in Hovsgul is the fifth biggest town in Mongolia and is located on the Delgermoron river on the way to Lake Hovsgol. The economy of Murun is based on small businesses and agriculture. During summer, tourism is also important. Guesthouses, hotels, tourist guides, translators and craftsmen make business with the tourists.

The “Association of Hovsgol Tourism & Information” (AHTI), operating since 2005, supports such small tourism businesses by information distribution, training and networking. The promotion of sustainable tourism development in the private and public sector is an integral part of AHTI's activities. It is also an important nexus between the private sector and government institutions. The goal of AHTI is to bundle and channel information for people involved in tourism as well as for tourists. The organisation runs a “Tourist Information Centre” (TIC), which collects and distributes information on accommodation, tourist guides, translators and touristic sites in the area. Furthermore, the TIC offers tours to spread knowledge about traditional ways of living. The TIC plans to offer trainings to local people involved in tourism and to improve the town’s infrastructure for both tourists and locals.

The main topic of the internship is to develop a sustainable tourism approach for Murun and its surrounding areas, which can help to protect the local nature and ethnic groups who still have a traditional way of life. The interns are directly involved in the organisation’s work. They get to know Mongolian customs and lifestyles through their own work as well as through the contact to the local population and the members of the organisation. Furthermore, the GLEN participants continue to work on the website and update information.

Good communication skills, knowledge of Tourism Management, Project Management, Computer Programming, Graphic Design and/or Geography is required. Good Russian or Mongolian language skills are a condition for this internship.

The scheduled time for the internship is July to September 2010.

The training and preparation seminars before the internship take place in English. The GLEN team will be composed of one German/Swiss and one Czech participant.


Proposed by: Gombojavin Tseepil (Director of AHTI), Jana Kveskova and Saskia Kenter (GLEN participants 2009)

The Community-based rehabilitation centre for physically handicapped children was opened in 2006 in Chingeltei in Ulaanbaatar. The centre serves around 40 handicapped children offering basic health-rehabilitation services. It works as an open place where children and their parents can come freely without following any fixed schedule. In the upcoming months, the centre plans to increase its capacities and to offer information services and consultancy for families with handicapped children, to help families with necessary health registration, to offer family members work and requalification courses and to advocate in the community to eliminate status linked with a disability.

The GLEN participants get involved in the ongoing activities of the rehabilitation centre. They can give courses for parents of handicapped children about possibilities of alternative home care and about the different means of support the centre is offering. They can work in the information and consultancy services of the centre, where logistical support is offered to the parents: where to turn for psychological support, how to get access to artificial limbs and to medical emergency services. Participants also offer basic rehabilitation services for children with disabilities.

Participants applying for this internship should have physiotherapeutic and pedagogic skills and social and intercultural competences. A good knowledge of English and Russian is required.

The internship is scheduled to run three months between July and October 2010.

The preparatory phase of the internship takes place in English. The GLEN tandem will be composed of one German/Swiss and one Slovak participant.

Proposed by: Darina Maňurová (Tabita, Slovakia)