CASE STUDY #3
LET’S IMPROVE OUR KHASHAA
Community on social media
Tumenbayar Tsengen
CHALLENGE
Grassroots movements and initiatives are becoming more important for Ulaanbaatar (UB) as the city grows and its problems require more collective action. More and more people are talking about the importance of knowing your neighbors, sharing rides, and collectively improving their plot and streets. Communities are forged and built in various ways and this time we would like to introduce you to a successful local online community in the tech- and social media-driven environment.
Social media in Mongolia, especially Facebook, is deemed equivalent to the internet or Google. People use it to sell and buy goods, create groups to share ideas, exchange experiences, review restaurants, and promote businesses. While some people are using Facebook as a platform to merely pick a fight, Tumenbayar Tsengen has mobilized thousands of people to start investing in their private plots and live comfortably instead of waiting for the government to provide solutions.
SOLUTION
Around 290,000 people have joined a simple movement called “Let’s Improve Our Khashaa” on Facebook. There are a total of around 200,000 households living in private plots of land (or khashaa as locals call them) in UB, which demonstrates the significance of the group’s following. The people share their stories about how they improved their living environments by fixing or upgrading their khashaa - from the doors to the houses and pit latrines. Some members offer tips and advice from their experiences and knowledge about home improvement projects. Other members who are living in apartments are expressing their dream to own a khashaa, inspired by the khashaa residents of the group. Discussion topics in the group vary
seasonally: mostly seeking solutions for building summer houses, gardening and planting vegetables and bushes. At the beginning of cold months, they exchange information and experiences focusing on insulating houses and gers.
Tumenbayar Tsengen, the individual who initiated the online movement owns a gardening and landscaping business with corporate clientele. What is his secret to mobilizing a large crowd?
His motivation for launching a Facebook group is simple: many people approached his company for advice on khashaa improvement and gardening. Some people asked for price quotes but the corporate rates are far too expensive for most families. At that point, Tumenbayar realized that it could be everybody’s hobby to improve and green their khashaa and gardening, which led him to launch his Facebook page in 2016. His followers skyrocketed from 30,000 in late December 2019 to 200,00 by spring 2020. Due to Covid-19, when the country implemented preventive measures, many turned to social media and online content, giving him an opportunity to attract more followers. Moreover, people living in khashaa get more active with their home improvement work in spring when the weather gets warmer.
His content in the initial stage consisted mostly of translating foreign language materials. Or he was the “lead actor” in video contents he developed and shared with his online community. Soon, he started searching for fresh content to not bore his audience. Tumenbayar began to share and showcase families in the Facebook group, who improved their khashaa and created a comfortable living environment for themselves in the ger areas. This type of collaboration with real people and sharing their stories helped add “different tones, ideas and viewpoints by everybody involved” to the Facebook group, says Tumenbayar. These real stories quickly inspired other members, sparking fresh ideas for home and khashaa improvements in them.
As of today, similar initiatives with the same title – “Let’s Improve Our Khashaa '' are growing rapidly around the country in many aimag and soum centers. The most active ones are in Khentii, Khovd, and Omnogobi provinces. They closely collaborate with Tumenbayar for advice and tips as they all have united towards a common goal. The largest one beside the main UB group is in Moron, Khuvsgul, uniting 14,000 local followers, which makes up 1/3 of the population of Moron.
Lately, some group members started talking about collectively improving their streets as neighbors. Based on these new motivations, Tumenbayar is planning to support neighbors who would like to work together toward the same goal.
When observing the group members you can tell they are hardworking, positive, friendly and supportive of each other’s initiatives. When asked “What is your secret to unite such people?” Tumenbayar answers “when people share with others how they improved their lives with their own hands, they receive heartwarming and encouraging words from others. That’s the most rewarding thing.” The role of the group admin has also been crucial to set the culture of the online movement. Since the launch of the group, discussions outside the objective, like fights, scandals, and commercial ads are not accepted. It may have been the secret to setting the tone in building such an effective community in such a short time.
