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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·福特和他的兒子埃德塞爾，從他們的巨額財產中拿出一小部分，組建了慈善基金會。
That was the common practice then and is now for wealthy Americans.
這是當時的慣例，如今美國富人也將這一慣例繼承了下來。
The once modest foundations has grown into the largest general purpose charitable organization in the world.
曾經那個資金并不充裕的基金會現已發展成為了全球最大的多用途慈善機構。
The Ford Foundation has given away more than six billion dollars.
福特基金會捐出的慈善金額已超過六十億美元。
Its money has touched every aspect of American life, touched the arts, science and even public radio.
它的捐贈涉及了美國生活的方方面面，涉及了藝術領域、科學領域，乃至公共廣播領域。
Warren Kozak has this report.
沃倫·科扎克報道。
A symphony orchestra in the Midwest, and inner-city building project, Africa's chronic food shortages.
中西部交響樂團，市中心建筑項目，非洲長期食品短缺問題。
These varied activities have one thing in common: all have received money from the Ford Foundation.
這些項目各式各樣，但有一個共同點：所有人都從福特基金會那里得到了錢。
Just off New York's Forty-second Street, in the shadow of the United Nations,
就在紐約第四十二街，在聯合國大樓附近，
a modern building with a huge glass wall serves as the world headquarters of the Ford Foundation.
矗立著一座擁有巨大玻璃墻的現代建筑，這就是福特基金會全球總部。
Besides giving away money, the Foundation has always attracted some of the country's best minds.
除了錢款捐贈之外，基金會一直吸引著這個國家的頂尖人才（慕名加入）。
"Well, I should tell you that I do not join any organization,
“嗯，我應該告訴你，我不加入任何組織，
including Ford Foundation, unless it can satisfy two criteria."
包括福特基金會，除非它能滿足兩個標準。”
Former secretary of Defense, World Bank President, and Ford Board member, Robert McNamara.
前國防部長、世界銀行總裁、福特董事會成員羅伯特·麥克納馬拉。
"One, I insist that it be an organization I feel some capability of contributing to.
“一，我堅定這是一個我覺得有能力為它作出貢獻的組織。
And, secondly, I insist it be an organization that can contribute to me,
其次，我堅定，它是一個能為我做出貢獻的組織，
that can stimulate my interest, enlarge my understanding of the world.
它能激發我的興趣，擴大我對世界的認知。
I should say that it has been, I think the most interesting association of my life."
我應該說，這是我一生中知道的最有趣的協會。
At the Foundation's headquarters, a stall of more than three hundred people studies data from all over the world,
在基金會的總部，三百多人從世界各地收集數據，進行研究，
spots trends and writes recommendations.
發布趨勢報告，并撰寫建議。
In the large board room,
在寬闊的董事辦公室里，
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.
董事們討論每個申請的優劣，并最終決定這些善款應該花落誰家。每年基金會的善款總額為1.25億美元。
If you think giving away that kind of money is easy, you're wrong.
如果你認為將那筆錢分發出去是件容易事，那你可就錯了。
There is no question that today's Ford Foundation with a four and a half billion-dollar endowment is a force of its own.
毫無疑問，今天資產達45億美元的福特基金會，擁有著自己的力量。
But it wasn't always that way.
但境況并非從一開始就這么順風順水。
You see, back in 1936, there were just a few large foundations when Henry and Edsel started their small project.
你看，時間回到1936年，當時只有幾個大的基金會，而亨利和埃德塞爾才剛剛開始做起。
Their original contribution was only twenty-five thousand dollars and its main function was to help local charities in Michigan.
他們最初的捐款只有2.5萬美元，其主要職能也只是助力密歇根當地的一些慈善機構。
Then in 1943, son Edsel died unexpectedly, followed four years later by his father.
隨后1943年，兒子埃德塞爾意外死亡，四年后他的父親也隨之亡故。
And the family lawyers had a huge problem on their hands.
于是，其家庭律師遇到了一個大問題。
At the time of their deaths, the Ford Motor Company was not a public corporation.
福特父子去世時，福特汽車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.
這兩個人手上都持有股票，出于稅收原因，其中有很大一部分必須得到迅速處理。
There was only one logical recipient of the windfall.
而這筆橫財只有一個合乎邏輯的出路。
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，這個沉睡的密歇根慈善機構幾乎一夜成為了世界上最大的基金會。
The Third World development programs also continue to take a lot of heat from time to time.
謀求發展的第三世界也不時從基金會手上獲益。
Millions of dollars have been poured into what seems to be a bottomless pit.
他們將數百萬美元投入到無底洞里。
Some problems have been solved only to find new ones taking their place.
有些問題已經解決，而新的問題又隨之產生。
Robert McNamara defends Ford's involvement there.
羅伯特·麥克納馬拉為福特基金會的所作所為加以辯護。
He thinks Foundations offer something that no one else is able to do,
他認為基金會的善舉，任何其他人都做不到，
because without their research the government's foreign aid would be wasted.
因為如果沒有他們的研究成果，政府的國外援助就會付諸東流。
"It's insane to put as much money,
“投入這么多錢是愚蠢的，
invest as much per year with as inadequate an intellectual foundation of how to maximize the efficiency of those investments.
每年投入這么多，但卻極度缺乏保障投資效率的最大化的智囊團
And Africa is a perfect illustration of the problem.
非洲就是這個問題的完美例證。
Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in Africa today.
今天，我們在非洲投資了數百億美元。
They need more. But, despite that investment,
他們還需要更多。但是，盡管我們投資了，
the GNP growth per capital in the countries of sub-Saharian Africa has been negative, on average, for a decade.
在過去十年中，平均而言，撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲地區的人均國民生產總值增長還一直為負。
The food production per capita has been negative, per capita, for over a decade. Why? Who knows?
在過去的十幾年間，人均糧食產量一直是負數，人均，為什么？誰知道呢？
Nobody knows. And governments are too large; they're too rigid; they're too inflexible;
沒有人知道。政府太大了；太死板了，太不靈活了；
they're too insensitive, really, unable to move as rapidly,
他們太不敏感了，真的，動作太慢，
and in some ways, as radically as is necessary to find the answer to that question."
在某些方面，從根本上說，找到這個問題的答案是必要的。”
This year the Ford Foundation will receive about nine thousand formal requests for money.
今年福特基金會將收到大約九千項正式的資金申請。
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；有些還要更仔細地研究；
and about twelve hundred lucky projects will receive anywhere from a thousand dollars to several million to help them along the way.
各地總共約有1200個幸運項目將會接收到資金，這些資金額度從1000美元到幾百萬美元不等，將會一直幫助那些接受者完成他們想做的事。
I'm Warren Kozak in Washington.
我是沃倫·科扎克，華盛頓報道。
