A Barn (Ger) Raising

Today we had the unique opportunity to help a young widowed sister in our branch prepare her ger for winter.  We had wanted to have this experience, and felt it a great opportunity to be of service to this young sister who really had no one but the branch to help.  We walked over to her place down this narrow alley, which turned out to be the back entrance to the property.  There really was a nice road in front!

We went through the gate and this is what we saw.  She had the ger already torn apart and all the furnishings out. It as almost reminiscent of a good old yard sale!  But then we were struck with the impression that these were the total belongings of this sweet woman!

The first step was to soften the ground of the new location for the ger.  We really just moved the structure about 20 feet from its original location.  I'm not exactly sure why it needed to be moved, but move it we did! We found potatoes as we dug, so I think it must have been the garden.  Maybe next year is the year to plant the garden in a new location!  I just don't know.  After softening the ground, it needed to be leveled so the floor would be even. 

There are either 72 or 81 of these rib braces in the structure of the ger, depending on the size of the ger.  This ger is a 5-wall ger and so had about 72, I think.  They all needed to be washed and prepared to be put back into the ger.  And they were really dirty from the wood fires and just every-day living!

The the floor sections are moved to the new location and put in place.  This was probably the hardest part of the operation because the floor needs to be even and no spongy when stepped on.  Considerable time was spent putting dirt under the floors and digging the trenches for the cross-boards holding the floor together.  It really resulted in a pretty even and solid floor!

Then the lattice work is put up.  This all collapses into bundles and then expands to be tied together and stretched to surround the ger floor.

This is Bayersahon, an RM who is from here but has been in UB for awhile.  He is home visiting for a month and was very helpful in putting up the ger.  You can see how the lattice work is roped together.  half of the 8 floor sections were covered with cardboard boxes, and then vinyl and a rug.  The other half by the door were left bare.

A cord is then run through the lattice to keep the shape and provide stability.  The center circle and poles are put in and the door is added.  This is a new door.  The old one was in pretty bad shape.

Then we started putting in the rib braces.  They are attached to the lattice work with leather string.  Some of the braces were too short, and as we pulled to get the ones on the other side in, they would fall into the center.  We also had a few holes in the top that had no place to attach to the lattice, but the structure was solid without the extra pieces.

Then the covering is applied.  This was the first layer and was not very heavy.  It was followed by multiple levels of heavy felt that was tied to ropes that were pulled tight over the top of the ger.

 This was new felt and had to be cut in places to make it lie flat.  It was about 3/4"thick.  The pole is used to drag the felt along the roof to where it needs to be placed.  Several additional layers were added to provide insulation for the cold winter months ahead. There was also a plastic layer to protect the felt from water penetration.

The final cover was a lighter canvas-like piece that was then belted tight around the ger. The structure was solid enough that this young boy was able to climb up there and help get the cover where it needed to be.  There is also a piece that goes over the round top hole, but it was not put in yet and will probably be placed when it gets colder.  Right now, they probably still want that open for ventilation.

This is pretty close to the last thing done.  We then moved the furniture and other belongs in and we were done.  As usual after a service project, we were served a nice meal of noodle soup with potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage and meat.  It was great to work with the branch members to do this project.  Since it was our first time, we probably weren't that much help, except to haul things, but we will know more how to help if we get another chance to help raise a ger!

I couldn't get this picture to got where I wanted it to in the blog, so it is sort of random. But this is the Branch President, President Batmonkh and I showing how tall the rib braces are.  Really, I think he was comparing how tall I am to how tall the braces are.  We really had an enjoyable day!