In the winter of 1979, our founder Ms. Hui Jin was a young woman who had just entered society as a new college graduate in Beijing. Because of her love and concern for the education of young children, Ms. Jin opened a private school that taught children music and art through afterschool programs. While running the school, Ms. Jin began to see the needs of children around her. Many of the children within the public school system were struggling, and there were countless others who were not able to receive an education of any kind due to financial difficulties, or physical and mental challenges that public school systems could not address. Special needs children were being neglected and left behind. Children from impoverished backgrounds, who had come to the city with their parents, were also being left behind.
All of these children, however, were still well off compared to the countless number of orphans that Ms. Jin was becoming aware of. Without parents and families that could take care of them, the orphans were left at the mercy of governmental institutions which were overflowing and unable to cope with all the abandoned and orphaned children. Ones with special needs and from minority backgrounds were especially under hardship because they constituted the lowest rung on the social ladder.
After many years of trying to help these lost and abandoned unfortunates of Chinese society, Ms. Hui felt it was time to do something. In the Fall of 1996 Meng En Orphanage was founded by Ms. Hui Jin, her younger sister Ms. Weizi Jin, and Mr. Benjamin Lee. Meng En means Grace Received in Chinese. Beijing Meng En Minority Orphanage was founded in 1996 for the purpose of helping orphaned and abandoned children of minority backgrounds with special needs. Children of minority backgrounds who are challenged by special needs have a more difficult time being placed in overburdened government run orphanage systems.
Our facility is able to house a maximum of 40 children. Given its small size, the current facility is an ideal environment for children who have never known what it is like to live as part of a family. Our staff live on the premises, further adding to the familial environment we have sought to establish, as they are all aunts and uncles to our children who look upon one another as brothers and sisters in the extended family. Each year 5 to 8 children are adopted in to loving families all over the world. Our cooperative network of government run orphanages are more than willing to send us new children for whom they cannot provide a comparable level of care. We have been able to adopt out over 100 children since our beginnings. As one of only a handful of privately run orphanages in China, Beijing Meng En Minority Orphanage has been providing a home for these unfortunates who have nowhere else to turn.
Our vocational school officially opened its doors in March of 2008 in order to address three areas of concern. We had recognized the need for a vocational school for many years, but circumstances had prevented us from realizing the vision that had been planted within us years ago. It was not until recently that the need for the school directly hit home. Our older orphaned girls had come of age. According to Chinese regulations, at age 14 orphans are placed in government run factories and work units that purport to teach them vocational skills, since overburdened government run orphanages cannot continue supporting the children indefinitely. We could not allow this to happen to our girls, as well the countless others who are confronting the same fate in orphanages throughout China. By 2025 there will be an estimated 250 million youth ages 15 to 25. A majority of these youths will come from underprivileged backgrounds. They have no chance of acquiring any type of education. Our school seeks to equip these youth with the skills that will enable them to take their place as productive members of society.
Our efforts have been made in order to improve the life of children and provide each one with a hope for the future. Through the dedicated work of all our staff at the orphanage and vocational school, our Foundation is able to make a difference in the lives of the children and youth entrusted unto our care. We hope that many others will be able to join us in providing the orphaned, abandoned, and discarded children of China a chance to have a better life, and achieve their dreams and goals.