About Us
There are over 200,000 children surviving on the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta) and over eleven million throughout India
In 2005 Alannah Smyth, a longtime volunteer and Anne-Marie Smyth, with lifelong experience working in the area of physical, mental and sexual abuse of women and children, traveled to Kolkata (Calcutta) to work with street children. There they witnessed first hand the horror, degradation and deprivation of life on the streets. The sights they witnessed broke their hearts and left an indelible picture in their minds. With support from friends, family and colleagues they formed Lotus Child within the existing charity of The Louis and Zelie Martin Foundation (CHY 12491) to do something to alleviate this suffering.Background
Lotus Child are absolutely committed to only supporting projects which have been fully assessed by us. We recognise the importance of having partners in India and we invest in the people working on the ground, entering into a partnership with them to ensure your hard earned money goes directly to those who need it most. In particular we look for people dedicated to and experienced in caring and loving these beautiful children in a holistic way without reference to their colour, creed or caste.
Please see
Our Projects page for details of the projects we support and our partners in India.
Louis and Zelie Martin Foundatio
Lotus Child Project is a part of the Louis and Zelie Martin Foundation. Rather than incur the expense and overheads of forming a separate charity we created a self contained subsidiary of this charity and all funds raised by the Lotus Child are maintained separately, are fully audited and go directly to our projects in India.
The Louis and Zelie Martin Foundation was founded in 1997. Since its inception it has funded a number of charitable projects both in Ireland and abroad including the construction of the Blackrock Hospice and a hospice of victims of AIDs in Leheratong, South Africa www.leartong.co.za
