Children's
Homes
In 1993 Didi Ananda Kalika, a meditation teacher
in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, was shocked by the plight of so many
kids living on the streets. She started to help the kids by providing
food and shelter and soon realized that there was a need for more.
In 1995, with the help of some friends, she started the Lotus
Center to provide children who come from some of
the most terrible backgrounds – abandonment, sexual abuse,
malnutrition and domestic violence – a chance to change their
lives for the better. Here is a recent report from the center:
Through quality education, meaningful activities and by creating
small family groups (10 children to one housemother), the Lotus
Centre tries to give children a chance to make a positive future.
Today around 150 children call the Lotus Center their home.
The Center has also helps many ultra-poor families with income projects
and food assistance, so that poverty does not tear their family
unit apart. The Lotus Center isn't a large organization, we don't
have a marketing department or a fleet of 4-wheel drives, the majority
of our core staff are volunteers, while nearly all of our staff
work for discounted wages with no overtime. This is a fact that
we are proud of, we are a child-focused organization and are a collection
of people who are 100 percent committed to the welfare of our kids.
At Lotus we have three simple goals:
1. To provide primary care to all of our children, which includes
food, health care, clothing and accommodation
2. To provide the children with developmental care so that they
can break free of the poverty cycle. For example, we aim to give
each child a quality education, counseling, self esteem building
exercises and the access to life skills.
3. To provide the children with support in their "post-Lotus" lives,
so that they have a safety net and are able to find employment and
tertiary education placements.
We provide basic Mongolian houses
and gers for our family units to live in
This accommodation is situated in Yarmag – a ger suburb or
shantytown, just out of the capital Ulaan Baatar. We provide this
type of living environment for three reasons:
1. It is a very similar environment to where the children come from,
so the children settle in more easily.
2. Most of our children will grow into adults who will be able to
afford similar accommodation. We aim not to build up their expectations
for the "material things in life", but rather foster realistic attitudes
in adulthood.
3. By living in the ger-town environment with a yard, a dog, a house
and daily chores, there is less likelihood that the children will
be institutionalized, a problem facing many orphans.
At Lotus we also develop family groups
of 10 children per housemother
This gives the children a family environment, which is very healthy
for developing close relationships, conflict resolution skills and
ultimately it will give each child a better chance of being able
to maintain a family of their own once they leave Lotus.
The Lotus Center views education as
one of the most important tools in breaking the poverty cycle
Currently, the Mongolian education system covers some subjects very
well, but we feel that there are some gaps in what is taught. We
also feel that the education system does not effectively meet the
needs of children who have learning difficulties or who require
special considerations. This is why we have developed our own kindergarten
and are in the process of developing our own school.
In the future we aim to use education as a key tool for the development
of each of our children. This means classes for children with special
needs, vocational training for the manually minded and access to
a good quality academic education for all.
The Lotus Center has a small team of social workers who try to give
the children the skills they need to be positive individuals
This means counseling, a summer adventure camp,
a tutoring program, career advice and workshops on conflict resolution
and problem-solving. Many of our children have had incredibily difficult
life experiences. We feel that if our children are to develop away
from their pasts, it is important that we give them the tools and
support that they need.
Unfortunately 36 percent of Mongolians are classified as living
below the poverty line. Many families and single mothers come to
us, too poor to look after their children. Instead of taking the
child, we have developed options to keep families together such
as a sewing project that makes sample bags for mining companies.
The family gets to gain an income by making the bags, while the
profit from selling the bags goes to fund the Center's running costs.
And Food for Work, which gives families food packages in exchange
for doing odd jobs around the Lotus Center. It provides short-term
relief for families who are going through a "rough patch".
Have you got what it takes?
Email service at anandamarga.org to volunteer.
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