The Lotus Children's Centre was founded by Didi Kalika, an Australian kindergarten and yoga teacher in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital.

On arrival in Mongolia, she was shocked by the plight of so many children living on the streets. She started to help the children by providing food and shelter and soon realised that there was a need for much more. In 1995, the Lotus Centre was born to give these children a chance to change their lives for the better.

Lotus provides food, health care, clothing and accommodation. Through quality education, meaningful activities and by creating small family groups (10 children to one ‘house-mother'), the Lotus Centre tries to give children a chance to make a positive future. Lotus provides basic Mongolian houses and gers and by giving the children an environment with a yard, a dog, daily chores, there is less likelihood that the children will be institutionalised , a problem facing many orphaned & abandoned children.

Today 148 children call the Lotus Centre their home.

Didi shared that the one objective that the Lotus Centre was not yet able to meet was that of the emotional and psychological nurturance of the children.

It was then that AMARA was conceived.