Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked democratic country about the size of Alaska that shares its northern border with Russia and is otherwise surrounded by China. Though wracked with widespread unemployment especially among men, the main sources of revenue for the country include copper mining and cashmere, which enjoy foreign investment. Mongolia has a very low population density of around 3 million people, nearly half of whom live in the capital city. The rest of population is spread across its characteristic wide steppe landscape with concentrations in each of the 21 provincial capitals, and there are diasporas of Mongolians around the world seeking employment, including in California, Virginia, Colorado and Illinois totaling nearly eighteen thousand people. Mongolia is the independent state that is sometimes referred to as “Outer Mongolia” in contrast to the northern Chinese area of ‘Inner Mongolia” that is comprised of mostly ethnic Mongolians left separated after a complicated past with China.

From 1921 to 1990, Mongolia was resolutely aligned with the former Soviet Union, while not technically a satellite state. During this time literacy rates skyrocketed especially for women who now make up a large portion of the work force, and permanent infrastructure was built in a country previously based on a nomadic herding lifestyle typified by the always-mobile ger (yurt) or round felt tent. Though much modernization occurred during these years and since the early 1990’s as billions of development aid dollars have poured in, Mongolia still lacks reliable transportation, effective social services and arts education. Even still, everyday life in Mongolia is heavily and charmingly influenced by all portions of the arts.

About me

I completed my undergraduate in music therapy from Ohio University and worked in private practice in Atlanta, GA and Philadelphia, PA, where I mostly worked with children and adults with various special needs. After I earned my masters degree in music therapy from Temple University in June of 2008, my husband & I traveled with 62 other Americans to Mongolia where we began our 27 month training and service as volunteers aiming to fulfill the Peace Corps’ three missions of providing skilled workers to the host country and creating a two-way culture exchange between the host country’s citizens and Americans. We spent three months of intensive language, culture and job training while living with host families, and our subsequent 24 months is being enjoyed in the provincial capital city of Bayankhongor, just north of the Gobi Desert. Nearly nine months ago, we were placed here based on my professional experience as a music therapist, and I have been working with the Bayankhongor Province Children’s Center and the Children’s Temujin Theater, named after the boy who later became Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan). Since September 2008, I have been working with these agencies, my Peace Corps community youth development director, Mongolian counterparts, Mongolian friends, and fellow volunteers to find ways to successfully use my skills as a music therapist in providing sustainable and practical music and life skills experiences to laypersons and those in helping professions.

Music in Mongolia

Mongolia has a rich history with music as its unique forms of traditional music have been present dating back to the 13th century to the time of the famous Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan), and it remains important in many parts of Mongolian daily and ceremonial life. Any Mongolian will tell you how music in its various forms is important to them, as much of it is connected to their proud nomadic herding traditions. For example, Mongolians even sing to their animals with a variety of lullabies to coax sheep to suckle their lambs, to order their horse in any direction, to milk cows, to control goats, and even imitate a camel’s cry (Khon, 2005).

There are two distinct singing styles in Mongolian vocal music, the Urtiin Duu (long song), which often resembles dramatic opera, and Khuumii (throat singing), both of which are remarkably difficult as they contain long sustained vocal lines to represent the vast, wide open space of the Mongolian countryside while addressing Mongolian daily life and the beauty of the land (O’Conner, 2008). Specifically, the khuumii style is recognized worldwide as it produces a large harmonic range of double or triple simultaneous tones producing a whistle tones and a deep bass tones (Khon, 2005). Both of these vocal styles are registered on the World Heritage of Art and Cultural Objects list.

Traditional Mongolian instruments are often played alone or used to accompany a vocalist. This may not be surprising when you consider the low population density and the historically nomadic culture. The main Mongolian instruments consist of the shanz and khuuchir (3 & 4 string instruments), and bishguur, tsuur, and limbe (3 types of flute), and the two-stringed Mongolian National Instrument, the murin khuur (horsehead fiddle). All murin khuur are noticeable due to the distinctive and decorative horse head carving on the top of the neck of the instrument. Through a generations-old legend, it is believed that the murin khuur was created by a herdsman to sing of the sorrow he felt over the death of his horse, from whose ribs and mane the instrument was first formed (Khon, 2005). It is considered by some musicologists as the father of the European string instruments.

All Mongolian events are marked by music. A traditional Mongolian wedding is mostly made up of the wedding attendee passing a single aiyag (cup) to each person, one-by-one. When an attendee receives they cup they must stand and sing a song for the couple. In most cases, the individual will lead the song and the rest of the attendants will join in after the first line. This makes up the bulk of the wedding and often goes on for hours. Every Mongolian holiday celebration such as Shin Jil (New Years), Teacher’s day, Soldier’s day, Tsagaan Sar (White Moon – Lunar New Year similar to the Chinese New Year), etc, involves people singing together to mark the occasion. Even as I began writing this article a 17 year-old student of mine asked me what I was writing about. As I explained traditional American weddings to him he was shocked to find out that people do not sing for such an event. As we discussed all the events where Mongolians sing he looked at me and said, “Even when we are just walking together, we sing.” This, to me, was the clearest way to explain Mongolian’s relationship with music. The simple act of being with others will elicit music.

The Only Music Therapist in Mongolia

The Peace Corps prides itself on providing skilled workers to countries in need that request volunteers, and it is very important to the Peace Corps and me that programs implemented by volunteers are sustainable. I have been given many unique opportunities through my work in Mongolia, of which many have been due to the help of my community youth development director, Enkhtuya Sukhbaatar, who is a Mongolian social worker trained in the United States. By her suggestion and through her excellent translation help I was able to complete the first music therapy seminar in Mongolia to social workers in the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital where nearly half the population of the country resides.

Because the first series of presentations were so successful, I was soon invited to present to seniors at the Mongolian State University of Education’s department of social work. Now, with the help of another volunteer, we are planning similar seminars to address music therapy and drama therapy in five major cities across Mongolia with social workers in schools, women’s shelters, hospitals, and the communities at large. These seminars address general knowledge about what music therapy is, the history of music therapy, what music therapists do, who they are, where they work, and experiential learning of basic music therapy techniques for use in their work. One easily understood and translated form of music therapy in Mongolia is music relaxation. With the assistance of a well coached translator, I have been able to show examples of music relaxation with social workers, teachers, government, museum, theater, and library workers all over the Bayankhongor aimag and Ulaanbaatar.

In addition to seminars, I have recently begun music sessions with children with special needs at the local Bayankhongor hospital. All of these sessions are attended by the child and a caregiver. My goal is to work with local translators and interested Mongolians to establish a program to use music to address development goals for children.

My wish for the sustainability of this program is to create a published basic curriculum for 0-5 year old children and their families with music experiences to be lead by Mongolians. I feel this is significant for Mongolian communities to create a safe space where Mongolians can use music to learn about their child’s development and also interact musically with other families.

Where Music Therapy Fits in Mongolia

It would be unreasonable to believe that Mongolian schools will begin developing music therapy programs. Therapy is a new concept to Mongolian, evidenced by the lack of the word “therapy” in the Mongolian language. In my experiences with translators in Mongolia, music therapy is typically described as medicine through music. I believe the current role of music therapy in Mongolia lies in training social workers.

It is important to note that my goal for music therapy in Mongolia is not to train the seminar participants as music therapists, but to teach techniques, methods, theories and interventions that can be relevant for their work. Social work schools in Mongolia have been present since the 1990’s with missions to train highly qualified professional social workers who work to promote the well-being of Mongolians and enhance social development in Mongolia. The Mongolian social work curriculum contains some similar practices to music therapy curriculum in the United States, including an ethics course during the first year. Professional social workers assist individuals, groups, or communities to restore or enhance their capacity for social functions while creating societal conditions favorable to their goals. The practice of social work requires knowledge of human development and behavior, of social, economic and cultural institutions, and of the interaction of all these factors (Sukhbaatar, 2009). Mongolian social work student’s practicum placements involve completing assessment of individual and family functioning and their environment as well as planning and delivery of social work services to individuals, families, groups, and communities. The personal qualifications of a music therapist involve establishing caring and professional relationships with people of all ages and abilities, though empathy, patience, creativity, imagination, openness to new ideas, and understanding of oneself are also important attributes (AMTA, 2009). Social workers in Mongolia are trained to be aware of human diversity, and respect human dignity and worth, be aware of non-discriminative practices, and be committed to professional development, of social work values and ethics (MSUE, 2009).

There are many areas where social workers could utilize music therapy techniques in Mongolia. Social workers in Mongolia are trained to work with women, the elderly, people with disabilities, families, and communities. According to the Mongolian government, each of the 21 provincial capitals has a women’s shelter that utilizes social workers. In addition, public schools have social workers to help children with emotional, developmental, or educational needs similar to American schools that have school counselors. Social workers help children with physical or learning disabilities, emotional problems, or those who face child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, poverty, or other problems. The social worker’s job includes interviewing the child and family to determine what action may be called for. Another function is to facilitate communication between parents and school staff. Social workers may assess student needs, assist in discipline hearings, serve on policymaking committees, or help develop alternative programs. Other functions include facilitating school-community relations and providing a variety of services to students in special education programs (Sukhbaatar, 2009).

When considering that social workers work people with disabilities, it is important to note that special education in Mongolia is limited. In the capital, Ulaanbaatar, there is one school for children with cerebral palsy, one school for individuals with hearing impairments, one school for children who have visual impairments, four schools for children with mental retardation. There is one school in Dornod Province for people with hearing impairments. Darkhan Uul, the second largest city, has three classes for students with mental retardation and Orkhon and Bayan-Ulgii each have one special class for children with mental retardation. Training social workers on music therapy techniques for these populations may be the best way to bring music therapy to this developing country.

References

American Music Therapy Association. (2009). A Career in Music Therapy. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://www.musictherapy.org.

Khon, M. (2005). Lonely Planet: Mongolia, 4th edition. Hong Kong, Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd.

Mongolian State University of Education. (2009). Social Work. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from http://www.msue.edu.mn

O’Connor, D (ed.). (2008). Mongolia: The official year book of Mongolia. Foreign Service Office, MONTSAME.

Sukhbaatar, E. (2009). Social Work. Retrieved April 2, 2009, from http://mn.peacecorps.gov

How to cite this page

Chamberlain, Leslie Ann Shaffer (2009). Music Therapy in Mongolia. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 11, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=country-of-the-month/2009-music-therapy-mongolia