ABOUT US

For a small charity we have a long reach. With just a few entirely voluntary members, our aid effort stretches several thousand miles to remote areas of Mongolia. Our projects there span many hundreds of square kms, from Khenti, to Bulgan, Selenge and Khuvsgul in the north, to Dundgobi on the desert fringe in the south. Our aid ranges from provision of grass cutting machinery, to well-refurbishment, and veterinary aid for horses and camels.

John Pirie - (CEO, Secretary & Trustee) - pictured right - first launched an appeal for funds to assist Mongolia's beleaguered nomads in the winter of 1999/2000. By June 2000 CAMDA (Cambridge Mongolian Disaster Appeal) had been registered as a charity. Since then, he has received the support of many prominent welfare trusts and animal charities, acknowledging his understanding of the underlying problems that were left in the wake of the Mongolian catastrophe. That support also endorsed their belief that CAMDA was capable of delivering a form of aid that went to the heart of the many problems being faced by the country's worst affected nomadic communities.

John Pirie

In setting up the charity, John had sought the advice of Dr David Sneath, who heads MIASU (Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit) within the Department of Social Anthropology in the University of Cambridge. David is recognised as an authority on pastoralism in Mongolia; he has written several books and many leading articles on this subject, having lived among the nomadic communities and experienced the extremes of climate and living conditions that they endure. He sees CAMDA as a charity that is closely in touch with the fundamental needs of herders, providing them with support at grass roots level. He was both willing and pleased to become our Chairman, and is also a Trustee along with several other prominent MIASU colleagues.
John has made several visits to Mongolia to see the benefits of CAMDA's three ongoing projects, to meet up with our agents there, as well as some of the soum(village) herding families where aid has been provided. This family gave him accommodation overnight during his stay, and a photo of such an occasion is always greatly appreciated by the host. (John pictured in centre of group)
During a visit to Gurvansaikhan, which is in the Gobi Region, he was presented with a morin khuur (carved-horse-head fiddle) by the soum head, as a token of his people's grateful thanks for CAMDA's work there. This involved immunising several hundred camels against mange, a serious health threat for these valuable animals. Since then, many wells in that same region have been refurbished as part of CAMDA's strategy for helping communities to better maintain a viable lifestyle in a hostile environment.
From our UK base in Ely, often at John's home, a small team meets each week to review the progress of current projects, and to discuss future plans looking for ways to add value to our aid work, or to expand projects into other regions where there is a need. With low overheads - typically less than 10% - over 90% of donated money is beneficially used. In Mongolia we are fortunate in having the invaluable collaboration of Batsaa, a highly experienced UK-qualified vet, who in the course of his own work meets soum officials and herders. They provide him with the hard facts of their circumstances, which he will relay back to us, and - funds permitting, he will set up and implement the aid package. He also provides us with progress reports. See News Page 2 for details of a presentation made to him by the Mongolian Ambassador in recognition of his work for herding communities.		above - Batsaa with foal while its mother was being inoculated by a local vet

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