Divaa postcript

When we left Mongolia we realized that Divaa, the girl working at the ger camp at Lake Hovskul was in a no win situation. She was an intelligent girl who had no opportunity to better herself because like so many young women she was locked into a system that offered no avenue for improvement. She made about $50 a month in a camp 50 miles from the nearest town. We talked about bringing her to the U.S. where she could improve her English and get a job in the tourist industry.
These conversations went on for three years and finally she realized that this was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. Therefore, in 2005 she came over to attend a semester at Delta College in Stockton, California. She did quite well there, but when it was time to go back home, another opportunity afforded itself.
She had a cousin living in Salt Lake City who had become a Mormon while she was in Mongolia and did her mission in Fairfield, Ca. Only 50 miles from our house. Go figure the odds on that one. Anyway, she now lived in Utah and attended school there, so Divaa decided to go live with her and continue her studies. She has now graduated from Junior college, and is now attending BYU.
I am very proud of her. She has used this opportunity well. She has learned to be independent and self-sufficient and has maintained an A- B+ average in college. Although my financial responsibilities have been assumed by the Mormon church after she became a member of that church, she has found work within the legal limits of her visa and basically supports herself.
She was able to bring her mother over from Mongolia and we, in turn, brought both of them to Washington where we had a great week showing her the local sights. “So much water,” she kept saying. No, it wasn’t quite the Mongolian steppes. We talk often and she will always be a part of our lives. When she returns to Mongolia her prospects are so very much brighter than they would otherwise have been.