The first Lighthouse of World Vision Mongolia opened on 15th December 1997 with 20 Children. In the
beginning, Peter and Sue Bryan from New Zealand, founders of the centre, had much trouble to find a
landlord prepared to allow street children in their building. The Kids called this project Lighthouse,
because they lived before in the dark underground and now they have a place to stay, where they get
food and have people who love them. It is a "House with Light". Today, there are four Lighthouse Centres,
with about 70 children.
Lot of children come directly from the street, picked up by a WV social worker, or the children
come from the Police's Child address Identification Centre. The Children are free to come and go, when
they like. Especially for older children, this is important. Accustomed to the freedom of the streets,
it takes the older children some time to get used to living in the centre. The Centre does have rules,
which the children have to stick to, but not too many, for example, no violence, drugs, or sexual
activity. Children are expected to share chores and be considerate with others. A staff member of
world vision is on-site 24 hours a day. The staff members include a teacher, a social worker and up
to six house teachers.
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As part of life skills training, children wash their own clothes, clean up and cook for themselves.
Many of the children didn't spend much time in school, therefore World Vision run a basic
education programme at the centre. The first hour of every morning is for children who can't read or
write, and the second hour is for those who can.
A Lot of children can be coached, so that they can go back to the local state school. Often the
children are orphans, or their family may be simply too poor to care for them. Younger children can
sometimes find a foster family. For older teenagers, the best option is to get a job.
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