Please Don't Leave Children Locked At Home

Trans. by B.DULGUUN

Every month, 15 children in Mongolia die because they don't attend kindergartens and are left home without supervision, according to a Parliament member. This figure is too big for Mongolia's relatively small population.

A family nearly lost a precious child on International Day for Families, on May 15. A passerby noticed a child sitting on a window alone at the fifth floor of Apartment No. 25 in 7th Khoroo of Bayangol District. The four-year-old boy had been locked inside his home with his younger sibling. Who knows what danger would've befallen to the crying boy sitting on the edge of the window with his legs swinging down. According to people who saw the events, they boy's neighbors immediately made a report to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and held blankets and curtains beneath the child.

"Something awful almost happened. Last Friday, when I arrived in front of my apartment, a huge crowd had gathered and was shouting. When I looked up, a little boy was sitting on the edge of a window and crying. People who were there were panicking and shouting so the boy got scared and cried even louder. Some men spread a blanket and held it up and were telling the boy to not move," reported a lady who resides in Apartment No.25.

Luckily, the boy was saved by a young man named B.Lhagvadorj who was visiting a household on the fourth floor, right under the boy's apartment. B.Lhagvadorj, who was later confirmed to be the editor of Tokhilog Ger (Comfortable Home) Magazine, climbed up to the four-year-old's home through the balcony, got into the house through a window and saved the boy.

"At the time, I only thought that I had to save the boy. I didn't know exactly what I was doing. When I held the boy and comforted him, he smelled just like my son. A child is a child after all," he said.

B.Lhagvadorj said that he assumed that the people on the fifth floor were having a fight since a child was crying loudly. He then noticed a huge crowd gathered in front of the apartment and were shouting up so he looked up and saw the boy.

"I can only remember that the boy was screaming 'Save me' and had his legs out of the window," he said.

Although a terrible accident had been averted this time thanks to the young man, every person, particularly parents, should take note of this incident. According to a survey, there are over 220,000 children who are of kindergarten age in Mongolia, and 35 percent of them, specifically some 70,000...