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Mongolia
Warm Ger Felt Makes Money for Mongolian Herders
"We've had lots of change - in 2001 only our master herder had a truck, but now seven households have cars, some with two motorcycles," says Tsedevsuren, who heads a cooperative of 38 people that joined GI two years ago. "Some of our kids got married and we've made gers for them. Four kids are at university and we're paying for them."
Now each household's ger is complete with solar panels, a radio, TV, and often DVD player.
Through GI training, the herders wrote a business plan about felt production.
"Wool is the raw material, and it's easy to comb the sheep, so we decided to do felt production," Tsedevsuren says.
Felt is made by laying out fleece, pouring water over it, and rolling the material around a wood column. The bundle is wrapped in cow skins and dragged by a horse for a few kilometers so that the fleece and water solidify. The resulting sheet is left to dry, eventually becoming felt.
"This is our tradition from ancient times," Tsedevsuren says. "Before Gobi Initiative, some herders made three or four ger felts to sell, but it was really just a few items a year."
Production is scaling up thanks to spinning equipment purchased through a loan the cooperative took last May. In 2004, the cooperative produced and sold 140 gers. This year they are working on 200. They now also make felt slippers and carpets, and are looking to make horse blankets.
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