Monkzul and Mundo Uno

Monkzul -- you live, you learn (IV), originally uploaded by Arriving at the horizon.

I love this portrait of Monkzul (and I will post more photos of her soon), and was very happy to discover that while I was riding around in the countryside (and taking more photos of her and her cousin), the group Mundo Uno displayed her on their front page...

Mundo Uno is a group that was formed during the most violent days of this summer's Middle East crisis. It grew very rapidly, indicating a wide-spread wish among people to stop the fighting, and the culture of war in general.

When I heard about the conflict on BBC World, I remember thinking how unreal it seemed. Indeed, terror threats and deadly shootings and suicide bombings feel more remote than the most far-away parts of Mongolia, very abstract and almost fictitious from this peaceful place.

As Mundo Uno state on their Flickr page, the group exists in order "to keep people united, to develop a culture of peace, share some knowledge, to support actions for peace" -- worthy goals, for sure.

Even though the first thing someone told me when I began thinking of coming to Mongolia was "Emilia, you're going to have to buy a gun" it does appear to me as an ideal place to share images from, in the spirit of peace.