We recently visited Mongolia while researching a new investment opportunity.  While there, we had the chance to tour an orphanage in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. The Lotus Children’s Centre is located in a shantytown on the outskirts of the capital and is home to over 100 children ranging in age from two months to mid-teens.  The hardship and struggle for daily life put much into perspective.

The Centre now totals 180 children housed in two separate facilities.  Lotus is literally bursting at the seams.  The daily care and feeding of so many children can be simply daunting.  Food processing equipment was one of the latest requests at the beginning of the year from the Centre.

It seems to us that any orphanage is confronted with two principle challenges.  One is to provide daily shelter, warmth, food and hygienic facilities.  In essence, basic human dignity. At Lotus, this daily challenge can be particularly acute because of climatic extremes (+35°C to -35°C) and the fact there is no local government funding. 

The second challenge faced by Lotus is perhaps more daunting; how to ensure a reasonable education with a path towards a productive and useful life.  A life in which they can provide for themselves when its time to leave the orphanage.

We believe that it is critical to support and foster childhood education.  It is only through decent education that any progress can be made.  The provision of school supplies, from calculators to English work books to backpacks is a good place to start.  Also, providing for better schooling is a next option.  The challenges are many.  Orphanage children normally possess low self-esteem so they need to be encouraged and motivated to go to school and complete their homework each day.

Difficult yes, impossible, no.  One by one, we believe challenges can be confronted and solutions sought.  And the rewards to placing one young child on a better path are immeasurable. We plan to visit Ulaanbaator in May prior to attending an investment conference in Beijing.  We hope to meet with school officials as well as staff at Lotus to assess the current challenges and what can be done to provide solutions.

One last thought.  As in many parts of the developing world, it really doesn’t take very much in order to make a very large difference.  You would be surprised at how much good can be accomplished. 

We invite you to click on the link to Lotus Center below and see some of the children.

www.lotuschild.org