Building An American Dream
Donation protected
Seventeen years ago I was welcomed with open arms on the other side of the world by a Macedonian family when I joined the Peace Corps. I was recovering from a recent loss and they were my ticket to heal.
They were complete strangers to me when I met them, yet they greeted me as if I were a long-last relative come home to them at last.
Just as it took a village - albeit a Macedonian one - to help me heal, I would like to show my friends that there is a village that exists for them, too, in America where they will make their new home. Frosina and Goran, my Macedonian host sister and brother won the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery. When she won, Frosina didn't know what a Green Card was at the time, but figured it was something good.
She and Goran decided it would be worth leaving everything they know and coming to America to make a better life for their children. Please see my story about how not all their children were able to join them here.
Years after I left Macedonia, Frosina and Goran's family hosted two other Peace Corps Volunteers, who are now their sponsors in Chicago. They arrived on the Fourth of July to fireworks and a hoopla of celebration.
In all of my own travels, I don't think I've ever done anything as brave as they have, for I always knew that I could come back to America. My travels have all been temporary resting spots. The life of an immigrant is beyond anything I would ever be brave enough to choose.
The complications in starting a new life are vast. Their first impressions of Americans are that we are a friendly people. I am reaching out to my village to prove that the friendliness is not just surface! But that we are also a giving people, not just to our immediate circle, but also to strangers who've arrived hoping for something unexpectedly good.
Let's all surprise them by giving them an extra boost on this new beginning. Money raised in this campaign will be used for their hiring an immigration lawyer to bring their daughter here, and for a deposit on their first month's rent (the house they are staying in only has one bathroom....they need their own space.)
Please consider extending your thoughts of wanting to help others into something immediate and very concrete by helping to welcome this one family to America.
Thank you so much!
They were complete strangers to me when I met them, yet they greeted me as if I were a long-last relative come home to them at last.
Just as it took a village - albeit a Macedonian one - to help me heal, I would like to show my friends that there is a village that exists for them, too, in America where they will make their new home. Frosina and Goran, my Macedonian host sister and brother won the Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery. When she won, Frosina didn't know what a Green Card was at the time, but figured it was something good.
She and Goran decided it would be worth leaving everything they know and coming to America to make a better life for their children. Please see my story about how not all their children were able to join them here.
Years after I left Macedonia, Frosina and Goran's family hosted two other Peace Corps Volunteers, who are now their sponsors in Chicago. They arrived on the Fourth of July to fireworks and a hoopla of celebration.
In all of my own travels, I don't think I've ever done anything as brave as they have, for I always knew that I could come back to America. My travels have all been temporary resting spots. The life of an immigrant is beyond anything I would ever be brave enough to choose.
The complications in starting a new life are vast. Their first impressions of Americans are that we are a friendly people. I am reaching out to my village to prove that the friendliness is not just surface! But that we are also a giving people, not just to our immediate circle, but also to strangers who've arrived hoping for something unexpectedly good.
Let's all surprise them by giving them an extra boost on this new beginning. Money raised in this campaign will be used for their hiring an immigration lawyer to bring their daughter here, and for a deposit on their first month's rent (the house they are staying in only has one bathroom....they need their own space.)
Please consider extending your thoughts of wanting to help others into something immediate and very concrete by helping to welcome this one family to America.
Thank you so much!
Organizer and beneficiary
Regina Landor
Organizer
Goran Mitrev
Beneficiary