GREAT PHOTOJOURNALISM

Great Photojournalism

Jacob Ehrbahn

"Survival By Instinct" 2003/2004

This is the pictures from my bookdummy "Survival By Instinct" a story about Street children in Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.

Monument in Ulan Bator

Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.
Population about 800,000.

A group of about 10 children live in this district-heating hole.
During the coldest months of the year, when temperatures drop as low as – 45°c, many of the street children survive by living in the tunnels of the district heating system underground

Dinnertime. Their evening meal consists of a bag of boiled rice and scraps of meat picked off the bones found in the garbage behind a restaurant.

Suck the flame of the candle as far into the mouth as possible, and hold it there for as long as possible.

Badamsuren is washing her hair with water from the pipes while one of the boys rests.

The children are easy prey for adult criminals and other street children. They take turns sleeping in order to protect their clothes, their shoes and any of their few other possessions. Sometimes the police also come at night and take them to the Address Identification Center (A state run center under the police department for street children).

One of the boys tries to eat the last few bites of meat on a bone he found in the garbage behind a restaurant.

The two girls in the group Surderdene and Badamsuren fix their make up, while Altangerel watches.

Emerging from a district-heating hole.

Battsengel and Dorjge juggle with a homemade little shuttlecock.

Seventeen-year-old Dorjge has lived on the streets or in children’s homes since he was only six years old. At the age of five, his mother died of a liver disease. For a while he lived with his brother, but he ran away because his brother beat him. His biggest dream is to become a taxi driver.

Dorjge and Ganbaatar visit an Internet caf’e to play video games. They paid for the computer but never got to play any games. They couldn’t figure out how to work the games because they couldn’t read the instructions. After an hour of trying, they finally gave up and left.

Altangerel (second from the left) is able to make a little money by doing odd jobs at the local meat market, like weighing the meat.

Altangerel in school. Each day, the children spend a few hours getting warm at a state-run drop-in center. They get a free meal and a chance to learn how to read and write.

Two boys play fight.

A boy begs near the State Department Store.

During the winter months the big indoor food market of the city is a good place to hang out in order to keep warm.

Eleven-year-old Johnoo spends all day inside the big indoor food market to keep warm and to beg for scraps of food. Johnoo has been living on the streets for two years, he ran away from home because his alcoholic stepfather forced him to beg for money to finance his alcohol abuse.

Johnoo plays outside the food market.
(Joohnoo is killing time around the big indoor foodmarked)

Johnoo kills time on a staircase inside the big indoor food market.

Johnoo with his older "brother", 15-year-old Jirnee, at an Internet cafe. They tell people they are brothers, but they are not. Since they can’t afford to play the computers, they only watch.

Johnoo waits outside a restaurant hoping for leftovers from the tables.

Johnoo and his big "brother", Jirnee and one of their friends have found shelter for the night in a cellar room.

Life on the streets is easier during the summer. The children bathe and play in the city river.

Tulgaa is 24 years old, and has been living on the streets for more than 10 years. He is one of the leaders of a gang of boys, the youngest of which is only 12 years old. Three years ago he was stabbed during a fight. He was in the hospital for three months.

Early morning: Three boys sleep on the roof of a shop. This is a good place to sleep, because nobody can see them from the street. Being homeless leaves you vulnerable. Therefore, most of the children prefer to sleep together, preferably in well-hidden areas because hiding increases their safety. Batbayar is lying in the foreground. He is 15 years old, and has lived on the streets since he was nine years old.

The boys often play fight and test each other. Olzii bites Dagjak’s ear, while Buyanaa is watching.

The shepherds Tamiraa, 10, and his big brother Narankhuu, 17, sit in a backyard, 300 meters from the huge Sukhbaator Square, where the government offices are located. The two boys come from the Arkhangai province. Their job was to take care of the family’s more than 200 sheep. But when they came home in the evenings, one or more of the sheep would often be missing, and their parents would beat them. One day the boys got fed up, took two sheep and used them as payment for the ride to Ulan Bator.

Dagjak, 13, on his way to the river. In the background is an election poster.

Alone in the dark: The boys, Baacanjav, 9, and Gantumur, 12, respectively sleep on the roof of a shop.

Bottle hunting: Jijigee, 14, Chinbayar, 15, and Nyanmdorj, 15, live together in the Nairamdal Park, the city’s amusement park.

Bayaraa, 14, and Jijigee, 14, spent the night in one of the stalls in the city’s amusement park. During the night, they were mugged by another group of boys. The escaped with only minor scratches but all their bottles were stolen. Bayaraa spent the rest of the night collection more bottles, but a feeling of powerlessness and insecurity quickly spread within the group after this experience.

Chinbayar and Jijigee.

Nyandorj is 15 years old and has lived for nine years on the streets. During the boy’s daily bottle collection around the park, he found this half empty soap bubble container in a trash bin.

Jijigee, 14, has lived on the streets and in orphanages for nine years.

Many street children cut themselves on purpose. Their wounds are easily infected.

Bayaraa,14, is from the countryside. He ran away from home when he was nine years old, and took a train to Ulan Bator as a stow-away. He is looking through garbage in the park, hoping to find bottles or other valuable trash.

Bayaraa, Jijigee, Nyanmdorj and Chinbayar sleep in one of the stalls in the amusement park.

Bayaraa collects bottles by night. Everywhere in the streets, you see children hunting for bottles with canvas bags. One kilo of plastic bottles earns 450 Tugrug, or approximately 40 cents. Most street children survive by collecting bottles. Some survive by begging or stealing in the market place. Others by having small side jobs, such as keeping an eye on people’s cars while they are in restaurants, washing cars or polishing shoes.

"Tarzan" is a 14-year-old girl who sleeps in the area around the State Department Store.

Boy sleeping behind some shops.

Sleeping in the stairway next to a 24-hour supermarket.

Hanging out/sleeping outside a 24-hour drugstore.

Dalaibayar, 19, lives with a group of boys behind a repair shop in the center of the city. He is from the province Khuvsgul, about 1,000 kilometers from Ulan Bator. As a child, he disappeared from his father while on a fishing trip during the winter. After three days, he was found frostbitten, and taken to the hospital. They had to amputate parts of both arms and both legs. He was hospitalized together with his mother for one year. He got artificial legs and has to undergo an operation once a ye

A group of street children. Their leader stands to the right.
From left to right: 1) Unduguu, 15, five years on the streets. 2) Kubana, 13, seven years on the streets. 3) Shinee, 13, four years on the streets. 4) Topi, 16, one year on the streets. 5) Eegi, 15, one year on the streets. 6) Erdene, 19, nine years on the streets.

Dinner: The boys sometimes go to the city’s biggest hospital, where they stand outside singing and wailing, hoping that people throw some food out of the windows. The meal is then eaten on one of the hospital’s staircases. The strongest group members eat first. Unduguu, at the top right of the photograph, didn’t get anything to eat, even though he had his hand stretched out. He does not really belong to the group. He is from another district in the city, and is just visiting.

Kubana is 13 years old, and has lived on the streets since he was seven.

Ambuush, 14, and Ganbaa, 14, have lived respectively three and two years on the streets. They live in an open garage, near a Buddhist temple.

The Address Identification Center is a state run center under the police department. They are charged with finding street children to identify them and return them to their families or a childrens home. The children stay at the center for up to a week, before they are sent on.

The police check for children in a heating hole. During winter, when temperatures drop as low as – 45°c degrees, many street children survive by staying in the channels of the district heating system underground.

A boy is found sleeping in a blind alley in a shopping mall.

The police wake up a child who is sleeping in the steam of a district-heating hole. The temperature outside was – 21°c

On the way to the Address Identification Center.

When they arrive at the center, the children must be identified. Many lie about their identity because they do not want to go back to their families.

After arriving at the center the children must wash. They also hand in their clothes to be washed or disposed of. Here five boys are shower under one hot tap.

A girl is being shaved because lice were found in her hair.

The children are counted several times throughout the day to make sure no one has run away.

After dinner the children are allowed to watch TV. This is very popular despite of the poor quality of the reception.

Waiting for dinner.

Police return a young boy to his family. His family complains that the boy is difficult and steals from them. The officers leave briefly to return another boy in the same apartment complex. When they return to their car, the first boy is waiting. He cries and pleads to be returned to the center. The only option for police is to find a orphanage for the boy.

Summer Camp: Together, the state and the aid organization World Vision run a children’s holiday camp outside Ulan Bator. The camp is intended for children and youngsters living in difficult conditions. The Address Identification Center and the city’s orphanages send many children here on summer holiday for up to two months.

The juvenile prison in Ulan Bator.

The juvenile prison in Ulan Bator.

Fifteen-year-old Sainyoroolt.s is serving a two-year sentence for stealing. Among other things he stole an engine from a Volga together with three other boys. Sainyoroolt.s ran away from home when he was 11 years old because his stepfather was an alcoholic and beat him up. He has been to the Address Identification Center three times. He has managed to escape twice only to be returned again.

Sainyoroolt.s behind bars

The "Child Protection Center," is a worn down state-sponsored children's home in Ulan Bator. The only privacy the children have here is a metal box where they can lock up their belongings.

Children in a state-sponsored orphanage, called "the Child Protection Center," are practicing for a parade that they are going to perform at the city hall.