Kara Estep says Mongolians have been surviving these winters for centuries I moved to Mongolia from Seattle last June to work as a community youth development volunteer with the US Peace Corps. This is the coldest winter I have ever experienced. I know it is an especially cold day when I can see frost forming on my hood, my feet ache from the cold ice underneath them. I have trouble making my hands function well enough to use a key to open my door after only a 10-minute walk. It is an especially disheartening day when I pass by a frozen puppy or cat alongside the road that wasn't strong enough to survive. Over the eight-hour bus ride through Mongolia's countryside, the bus passes pile after pile of dead, frozen animals Kara Estep, Tsetserleg, Arkhangai Mongolians have been surviving these winters for centuries and know how to cope. Parents bundle their children up in so many layers that the small ones can barely keep their balance. When walking through town, I could stumble into any Mongolian's home and would be immediately offered tea and maybe even food.
Kara Estep writes: I moved to Mongolia from Seattle last June to work as a community youth development volunteer with the US Peace Corps
Mongolia: Life in the extreme cold
Caption: Erdene Zuu II. by Honza Soukup Flickr Creative Comons Attribution 2.0 Generic
The United Nations has warned that extreme winter weather has killed more than one million livestock animals in Mongolia and is likely to harm the country's food supply and worsen poverty.
Volunteer workers in Mongolia have been telling the BBC News website their experiences of temperatures falling to around -35C (-31F).
Kara Estep says Mongolians have been surviving these winters for centuries
I moved to Mongolia from Seattle last June to work as a community youth development volunteer with the US Peace Corps. This is the coldest winter I have ever experienced.
I know it is an especially cold day when I can see frost forming on my hood, my feet ache from the cold ice underneath them.
I have trouble making my hands function well enough to use a key to open my door after only a 10-minute walk.
It is an especially disheartening day when I pass by a frozen puppy or cat alongside the road that wasn't strong enough to survive.
Over the eight-hour bus ride through Mongolia's countryside, the bus passes pile after pile of dead, frozen animals
Kara Estep, Tsetserleg, Arkhangai
Mongolians have been surviving these winters for centuries and know how to cope.
Parents bundle their children up in so many layers that the small ones can barely keep their balance.
When walking through town, I could stumble into any Mongolian's home and would be immediately offered tea and maybe even food.
Not only is that kind and generous, but I think it also probably developed as a means of survival.
Everybody here knows what it feels like to be walking around, literally freezing, and what the comfort of a warm ger and a hot cup of tea will do for the body and spirit.
However, living in this harsh, cold Mongolian winter climate is mostly an inconvenience for me.
I am reminded of some of the most drastic effects this winter has had on the lives of many Mongolians when I take the bus into the capital city of Ulan Bator.
Over the eight-hour bus ride through Mongolia's countryside, the bus passes pile after pile of dead, frozen animals - goats, sheep, and even cows and horses.
These were not wild animals, they were some families' livelihood.
Because so many people in Mongolia are herders - nearly one third of the population - a winter that is even colder and snowier than usual can have life-altering effects.
Herds of animals dying result in impoverished families who relied on their animals as their sole means of income.
Children may have to drop out of school to help their families.
Savings dwindle as people spend it on food for themselves or extra food for their animals to try to keep those that remain alive.
More people may flood into the city in search of new jobs. Sadly, for so many Mongolians an extremely harsh winter like this one has negative effects that extend well beyond the end of the season.
The above content does not in any way represent the US Peace Corps.
