Yes, this is a request for help.
I've been talking to Belle, yes THAT Belle, she of the falling over/injury at the Ripley meet fame. Belle is on the road to recovery after her recent op to sort out her back injury and has plans for next year.

First off she's heading across the Sahara with Dennis and co to take scooters to the Gambia.
And then later in the year she will be spending time in Mongolia before riding home...on her C90.
Belle has previously spent a lot of time in this beautiful and intriguing destination, her brother's wife is Mongolian which has opened lots of doors to her.
There are a lot of sides to Mongolia that we as travellers almost never see (as with other countries) and here is a chance to redress the balance a bit.
Belle has visited the little known Children's Mental Heath Hospital in Ulaan Bataar, here are some words from her about it:
Its on the hill in UB beyond the coal yards and the Ger community
Few outsiders get to visit and don't even know it's there because the Gov doesn't acknowledge it. I only got access because my sis in law fixed it
About 40 kids live there, ranging from little kids to older teenagers. Some are dumped by their families, some come from the drains
Some have birth defects (often attributed to their mothers having worked in the uranium mine nearby when they were pregnant, or through foetal alcohol - mothers drinking heavily pre natal) some have just regular mental health issues, autism, some have been harmed by domestic violence or through accidents etc - but I was most shocked by the kids who had been locked up there because they were 'difficult '. Just stroppy teenagers with attitude, labelled difficult, and stuck in there. Nothing wrong with them, but nobody wanted them, so they got banged up and forgotten, no prospects, no visits, no nothing.
It's called a 'hospital' but it's not - its just a place where dumped kids live until they grow up. Then they're out on their own. They have a half way house (ger) outside for the older teenagers and were trying to teach them some independent living like cooking for themselves (the pic of the boy cutting up noodles)

The whole place is run on a shoestring.
They have no or very few personal possessions either for the same reason - a communal toothbrush per bedroom, communal underwear.








The hospital is a very bleak looking place and so my plan is to have a mural painted on the walls starting in the bedrooms because it's something that all of the kids will benefit from immediately.
Sis in law is already sounding out the staff re suitable images and I have a painter sorted. It's important that a local does the job rather than kind hearted passing tourists though because it needs to be led by the kids and staff and a local is part of that same community, and that has been a bit of a problem with some initiatives elsewhere to date.
But if I can get anybody who has been through Mongolia - or is planning to - to donate just a couple of quid, then that will help me get it sorted much quicker. I'll be there to ensure the job is done, and done well. I'll be living in the Ger community with sis in law's bro, will be mobile on my C90, and won't leave until it is sorted.

The kids are well looked after though and the staff are great - but there is nothing there. No books, no pics, few toys, nothing to help stimulate them or make the feel they belong because there is no money. Last time I was there, I got them a CD player because one of the autistic kids had smashed the old thing that they did have some months earlier. It cost me something like £50 - which is nothing to us - but it made such a difference to them because they hadn't got a cat in hell's chance of replacing it. And do you know what? I felt really ashamed that I was so much more privileged than them, yet I'm no different from anybody else in the UK. I've worked for everything I have but it is so much more than these kids will ever get.

So there you have it folks, Belle has reckoned on a budget of £500 to get the hospital walls covered in murals.
Please will you help?

I've offered to help Belle with the fund raising and I've started the ball rolling with £20 in the kitty and did some tin shaking last weekend at the NEC Bike Show, many thanks to those of you who donated, I got another £17.50, huge thanks to Jerry for his donation.

Please dig in your pockets for this appeal - it would be great if HU could pay for this and show that we as bike travellers care about the communities we pass through.

__________________
Tiffany
On the road from...I'm not sure any more
http://www.tiffanystravels.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAUhV1r-kUo