Volunteering in a Mongolian orphanage has been something I have wanted to do for many many years. Visiting Lotus was the whole point of this trip, and from the moment I arrived I knew I'd made a good decision. We commuted for the first week, it was nearly 2 hours each way but totally worthwhile. The smiles we were greeted with each morning were amazing.
The lotus Children's Center is run by Didi, an Aussie lady from Mulwala who has lived and looked after kids in Mongolia for over 20 years. The orphanage has approximately 60 or so kids at any one time (plus a few other centres in other towns). The kids live in different houses named by themselves (ie Glamour House, Baby House, Spongebob House) mainly divided up by age with a house mother who loves with them and keeps them clean and in line. There is also a dining hall and a primary school on the site and the older kids take the bus into the city for secondary school.
We were met by Will and Angie who are the head volunteers. These guys are amazing, they have taken a year off to be the parental figures of all these kids. They work so hard with very little breaks and what they do is nothing short of inspirational. We also met the other volunteers Roman, Else and Simon and with all of us together we had a mixed bunch of Columbians, French, Dutch, Quebecian (not Canadian) and Aussies.
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