Today, the Lotus Children's Centre houses 115 children. Our youngest
child is one month old, and our oldest, is a young adult at 20. Some
of our children are orphans, whose parents have died and who have
no other family to care for them. Others have parents who are not
able to care for them. There are various reasons for this aboandonment
including illness and severe poverty.
Most of our children have lived on the street at some point in their lives, some have left their homes due to difficult family situations including physical and sexual abuse. Alcoholism and other social problems run rampant in Mongolia. Where ever possible we encourage contact between children and their families. This is often difficult as parents struggle to meet their own basic needs.
The Lotus Children's Centre has ongoing contact with the Mongolian Police Identification Centre, officers from the ID centre regularly pick up children who are living on the streets and attempt to locate their families. Often, we house children who come from the ID Centre. The police can only provide a temporary place for children to stay.
Our children have a wide range of abilities and talents, they are bright and intelligent and want to learn and become productive members of Mongolian society. Some have not been to school at all, or don't have necessary documentation to be admitted in the regular education system. Some have mild physical and developmental disabilities; which places them at a severe disadvantage as there are few schools equipped to deal with children who have special needs.
Some of our teenagers are attending high school and university courses and are planning for future employment. We have some very talented children; artists and dancers, others who prefer math and computers. There are plans to open a primary school that will do a better job to accommodate the interests of all the children.
Some individual donors choose to sponsor the children's education. This is very helpful, as it gives them options to study outside of Yarmag, in schools that offer more diverse curriculums and higher standards for learning. If you are interested in sponsoring the education of an individual child at the centre please contact us directly at donate@lotuschild.org.