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Fifty years ago, Henry Ford and his son Edsel, placed a modest amount of their vast wealth into a charitable foundation.
五十年前，亨利·福特和他的儿子埃德塞尔，从他们的巨额财产中拿出一小部分，组建了慈善基金会。
That was the common practice then and is now for wealthy Americans.
这是当时的惯例，如今美国富人也将这一惯例继承了下来。
The once modest foundations has grown into the largest general purpose charitable organization in the world.
曾经那个资金并不充裕的基金会现已发展成为了全球最大的多用途慈善机构。
The Ford Foundation has given away more than six billion dollars.
福特基金会捐出的慈善金额已超过六十亿美元。
Its money has touched every aspect of American life, touched the arts, science and even public radio.
它的捐赠涉及了美国生活的方方面面，涉及了艺术领域、科学领域，乃至公共广播领域。
Warren Kozak has this report.
沃伦·科扎克报道。
A symphony orchestra in the Midwest, and inner-city building project, Africa's chronic food shortages.
中西部交响乐团，市中心建筑项目，非洲长期食品短缺问题。
These varied activities have one thing in common: all have received money from the Ford Foundation.
这些项目各式各样，但有一个共同点：所有人都从福特基金会那里得到了钱。
Just off New York's Forty-second Street, in the shadow of the United Nations,
就在纽约第四十二街，在联合国大楼附近，
a modern building with a huge glass wall serves as the world headquarters of the Ford Foundation.
矗立着一座拥有巨大玻璃墙的现代建筑，这就是福特基金会全球总部。
Besides giving away money, the Foundation has always attracted some of the country's best minds.
除了钱款捐赠之外，基金会一直吸引着这个国家的顶尖人才（慕名加入）。
"Well, I should tell you that I do not join any organization,
“嗯，我应该告诉你，我不加入任何组织，
including Ford Foundation, unless it can satisfy two criteria."
包括福特基金会，除非它能满足两个标准。”
Former secretary of Defense, World Bank President, and Ford Board member, Robert McNamara.
前国防部长、世界银行总裁、福特董事会成员罗伯特·麦克纳马拉。
"One, I insist that it be an organization I feel some capability of contributing to.
“一，我坚定这是一个我觉得有能力为它作出贡献的组织。
And, secondly, I insist it be an organization that can contribute to me,
其次，我坚定，它是一个能为我做出贡献的组织，
that can stimulate my interest, enlarge my understanding of the world.
它能激发我的兴趣，扩大我对世界的认知。
I should say that it has been, I think the most interesting association of my life."
我应该说，这是我一生中知道的最有趣的协会。
At the Foundation's headquarters, a stall of more than three hundred people studies data from all over the world,
在基金会的总部，三百多人从世界各地收集数据，进行研究，
spots trends and writes recommendations.
发布趋势报告，并撰写建议。
In the large board room,
在宽阔的董事办公室里，
the directors argue the merits of individual requests and eventually decide who will get what part of the one hundred and twenty-five million dollars that goes out every year.
董事们讨论每个申请的优劣，并最终决定这些善款应该花落谁家。每年基金会的善款总额为1.25亿美元。
If you think giving away that kind of money is easy, you're wrong.
如果你认为将那笔钱分发出去是件容易事，那你可就错了。
There is no question that today's Ford Foundation with a four and a half billion-dollar endowment is a force of its own.
毫无疑问，今天资产达45亿美元的福特基金会，拥有着自己的力量。
But it wasn't always that way.
但境况并非从一开始就这么顺风顺水。
You see, back in 1936, there were just a few large foundations when Henry and Edsel started their small project.
你看，时间回到1936年，当时只有几个大的基金会，而亨利和埃德塞尔才刚刚开始做起。
Their original contribution was only twenty-five thousand dollars and its main function was to help local charities in Michigan.
他们最初的捐款只有2.5万美元，其主要职能也只是助力密歇根当地的一些慈善机构。
Then in 1943, son Edsel died unexpectedly, followed four years later by his father.
随后1943年，儿子埃德塞尔意外死亡，四年后他的父亲也随之亡故。
And the family lawyers had a huge problem on their hands.
于是，其家庭律师遇到了一个大问题。
At the time of their deaths, the Ford Motor Company was not a public corporation.
福特父子去世时，福特汽车公司并不是一家上市公司。
These two men owned of the stock and, for tax reasons, a great deal of it had to be disposed of and quickly.
这两个人手上都持有股票，出于税收原因，其中有很大一部分必须得到迅速处理。
There was only one logical recipient of the windfall.
而这笔横财只有一个合乎逻辑的出路。
So, in the late forties, the sleepy Michigan charity became, almost overnight, the largest foundation in the world.
所以，在四十年代末，这个沉睡的密歇根慈善机构几乎一夜成为了世界上最大的基金会。
The Third World development programs also continue to take a lot of heat from time to time.
谋求发展的第三世界也不时从基金会手上获益。
Millions of dollars have been poured into what seems to be a bottomless pit.
他们将数百万美元投入到无底洞里。
Some problems have been solved only to find new ones taking their place.
有些问题已经解决，而新的问题又随之产生。
Robert McNamara defends Ford's involvement there.
罗伯特·麦克纳马拉为福特基金会的所作所为加以辩护。
He thinks Foundations offer something that no one else is able to do,
他认为基金会的善举，任何其他人都做不到，
because without their research the government's foreign aid would be wasted.
因为如果没有他们的研究成果，政府的国外援助就会付诸东流。
"It's insane to put as much money,
“投入这么多钱是愚蠢的，
invest as much per year with as inadequate an intellectual foundation of how to maximize the efficiency of those investments.
每年投入这么多，但却极度缺乏保障投资效率的最大化的智囊团
And Africa is a perfect illustration of the problem.
非洲就是这个问题的完美例证。
Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in Africa today.
今天，我们在非洲投资了数百亿美元。
They need more. But, despite that investment,
他们还需要更多。但是，尽管我们投资了，
the GNP growth per capital in the countries of sub-Saharian Africa has been negative, on average, for a decade.
在过去十年中，平均而言，撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲地区的人均国民生产总值增长还一直为负。
The food production per capita has been negative, per capita, for over a decade. Why? Who knows?
在过去的十几年间，人均粮食产量一直是负数，人均，为什么？谁知道呢？
Nobody knows. And governments are too large; they're too rigid; they're too inflexible;
没有人知道。政府太大了；太死板了，太不灵活了；
they're too insensitive, really, unable to move as rapidly,
他们太不敏感了，真的，动作太慢，
and in some ways, as radically as is necessary to find the answer to that question."
在某些方面，从根本上说，找到这个问题的答案是必要的。”
This year the Ford Foundation will receive about nine thousand formal requests for money.
今年福特基金会将收到大约九千项正式的资金申请。
All of the letters and forms will be looked at; some will be studied more closely;
所有的信件和表格都要看；有些还要更仔细地研究；
and about twelve hundred lucky projects will receive anywhere from a thousand dollars to several million to help them along the way.
各地总共约有1200个幸运项目将会接收到资金，这些资金额度从1000美元到几百万美元不等，将会一直帮助那些接受者完成他们想做的事。
I'm Warren Kozak in Washington.
我是沃伦·科扎克，华盛顿报道。
