During the Kosovo Crisis in 1990s, the Republic of Macedonia opened its borders to approximately 300,000 Kosovar refugees. Even before the war, many families in Macedonia were already struggling in the nation's developing economy because the majority of Macedonia's exports to other nations passed through Belgrade, which was completely shut down when the border to Yugoslavia was closed. Most of the factories had to shut down, causing unemployment to rise to a crippling level.

We responded immediately during the Kosovo Crisis and started assisting the refugees in Macedonia. While our workers were staying in Skopje, we visited various orphanages in Macedonia. These visits to the orphanages caused us to recognize the need to provide aid to the Macedonian orphans forced to leave the state-run orphanage system upon graduation from high school with no realistic hope for a better future.

Post-Orphanage Program

The program aimed to teach a limited number of young adults life-based and job-related skills as they transition into the world. After they graduate from secondary school level, at around eighteen years of age, orphans are given a small amount of money and six months to move out of the orphanage. Some get jobs paying very low wages and live in pitiful conditions while others end up in the streets.

Each year, based on careful screening and interviews, we accepted qualified candidates, who lived in our post-orphanage residential facility, The "House of Dream", with the house parents providing appropriate support and supervision. While the participants lived at the House of Dream, they either attended college or a vocational school to receive higher education and/or practical training. English classes were also offered to improve participants' overall skill set. After a year, we tried to help them find a suitable place to live and employment.

"The House of Dream" was established and inaugurated in November, 2000. Water and Sophie Fung were the house parents looking after five young men until the recent decision to transform the facility for another use. The Fungs, as house parents, were responsible for identifying appropriate candidates to participate in the Program and also developing programs to advance the career goals and meet the personal needs of program participants and work closely with local community to fulfill their responsibilities.

We funded all of the operating expenses of the House of Dream until the recent termination of this program. We handed over the operational control of the House of Dreams to an educational institution, and other humanitarian purposes. As a result, we decided to re-direct financial resources previously allocated to this program to other aid opportunities.

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