The Lotus Children’s Charitable Trust, 2012 Mongol Rally Charity

“In 1993 Didi Kalika, an Australian yoga teacher living in UB was moved by the plight of the children living on the streets and founded the Lotus Children’s Center. She started simply by giving food and basic medical care, and soon realized that serious change was necessary to make real impact.”

A Little History

Over the past 18 years the Lotus Children’s Center has worked to aid street kids and abandoned babies in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. In the beginning the center worked to give food and basic medical supplies. As the years passed the center started to take in abandoned babies (at the request of Mongolian authorities), and even started a kindergarten.

When a lack of necessary paperwork prevented Lotus children from entering government schools, Lotus converted an old general goods store in Yarmag into a school, teaching the children up to the 5th grade.

Not An Average Orphanage

When one thinks of an orphanage, they think of a building or house with dorm-like rooms filled with children of all ages. In many cases this is exactly what is needed and it makes complete sense. But in Mongolia things are different, and so it’s important for this particular orphanage to be different as well.

Many Mongolian families live outside the cities, in basic houses and gers, and The Lotus Children’s Center believes in providing a similar environment to the children in its care. Lotus children are placed in family groups of 10 and are cared for by a ‘housemother’. Each ‘family’ lives in a basic house or ger. The gers form a ger-town environment with a yard, a dog and daily chores. Everything that a regular Mongolian nomad family has. By doing this the centre gives the children realistic expectations and teaches them the basic skills needed to get by when they enter adulthood.

The Lotus Children’s Center Goals

The Lotus Children’s Center aims to give primary care to all of their children which includes food, healthcare, clothing and accommodation. The children are given developmental care, a quality education, counseling, building tools and access to life skills. As the children grow up and leave Lotus, they’re given support to help them transition into the world around them.

In other words, the center is not interested in solving only short-term problems, The Lotus Children’s Center wants to give these children everything they need to grow up to be happy and healthy adults. Lotus aims to teach, guide and support.

Supported by the Intrepid Foundation

The Intrepid Foundation offers travelers the opportunity to ‘give back’ to the communities that Intrepid Travel travels through. Donations made through the Intrepid Foundation are matched dollar for dollar by Intrepid (up to a max of AU$5,000 per donor and AU$400,000 per project per fiscal year)

One of the ways travellers can help is through the Intrepid Community Project Fund, which aids grassroots works of non-governmental organizations.

Team SM Stowaway Sets an AGGRESSIVE Goal!

Charlie, DJ and I are adventurous women who love to push passed the norm and explore the new and different, which is why we decided to set a very aggressive fundraising goal. We can’t really do an epic car rally to raise money for charity without setting an epic sized fundraising goal.

The highest amount of money raised by a single team for a Mongol Rally charity was in 2009 by team Butch Cassidy. They raise £56,000. That’s a lot of money. Charlie, DJ and I plan to give that amount a spanking and raise £75,000. It’s a lot of money, but it can totally be done.

If 50 people a day donate £10 each we’ll reach our fundraising goal BEFORE the rally even starts! 

Our fundraising goal is not just about raising the most money, it’s more than that. £75,000 helps to ensure that the center has the money they need to give Lotus children a post-secondary education as well as providing daily care and education for the children in its care. But that’s not all. We’re not only fundraising, we’re interested in seeing the center and the children for ourselves. We want to visit the Lotus Children’s Center when we finish the rally and meet the children who we’ve set out to help, and we’d like you to take this journey with us.

Help The Lotus Children’s Center Charitable Trust keep children off the streets in UB. Click and make a £10 donation and help us spread the word. Let’s make this a global effort, a group fundraising goal.