天使慈善夢

Perhaps every generation of geezers since Adam and Eve has whined about young people， and today is no different. Isn’t it clear that in contrast to our glorious selves， kids these days are selfabsorbed Facebook junkies just a pixel deep？

No， actually that’s wrong at every level. This has been a depressing time to watch today’s“adults，” whose talent for self-absorption and political paralysis makes it difficult to solve big problems. But many young people haven’t yet learned to be cynical. They believe， in a wonderfully earnest way， in creating a better world.

In the midst of this grim summer， my faith in humanity has been restored by the saga of Rachel Beckwith. She could teach my generation a great deal about maturity and unselfishness—even though she’s just 9 years old， or was when she died on July 23， 2011.

Rachel lived outside Seattle， and early on showed a desire to give back. At age 5， she learned at school about an organization called Locks of Love， which uses hair donations to make wigs for children who have lost their own hair because of cancer or other diseases. Rachel then asked to have her long hair shorn off and sent to Locks of Love.

“She said she wanted to help the cancer kids， ” her mother， Samantha Paul， told me. After the haircut， Rachel announced that she would grow her hair long again and donate it again after a few years to Locks of Love. And that’s what she did.

Then when she was 8 years old， her church began raising money to build wells in Africa through an organization called Charity： Water. Rachel was aghast when she learned that other children had no clean water， so she asked to skip having a ninth birthday party. In lieu of presents， she asked her friends to donate $9 each to Charity： Water for water projects in Africa.

Rachel’s ninth birthday was on June 12， and she had set up a birthday page on the Charity： Water Web site with a target of $300. Alas， Rachel was able to raise only $220—which had left her just a bit disappointed.

Then， on July 20， as Rachel was riding with her family on the highway， two trucks collided and created a 13-car pileup. Rachel’s car was hit by one of the trucks， and although the rest of her family was unhurt， Rachel was left critically injured.

Church members and friends， seeking some way of showing support， began donating on Rachel’s birthday page（charitywater.org/Rachel） and donations surged past her $300 goal， and kept mounting. As family and friends gathered around Rachel’s bedside， they were able to tell her—even not knowing whether she could hear them—that she had exceeded the $47，544 that the singer Justin Bieber had raised for Charity： Water on his 17th birthday.

“I think she secretly had a crush on him， but she would never admit it，” her mom said. “I think she would have been ecstatic.”

When it was clear that Rachel would never regain consciousness， the family decided to remove life support. Her parents donated her hair a final time to Locks of Love， and her organs to other children. Word spread about Rachel’s last fund-raiser.

Contributions poured in， often in $9 18）increments， although one 5-year-old girl sent in the savings in her piggy bank of $2.27. The total donations soon topped $100，000， then $300，000. Like others， I was moved and donated. As I write this， more than $850，000 has been raised from all over the world， including donations from Africans awed by a little American girl who cared about their continent.

“What has been so inspiring about Rachel is that she has taught the adults，” said Scott Harrison， the founder of Charity： Water. “Adults are humbled by the unselfishness of this little girl.”

Yet this is a story not just of one girl， but of a generation of young people working creatively to make this a better world. Mr. Harrison is emblematic of these young people. Now 35， he established Charity： Water when he was 30， and it has taken off partly because of his mastery of social media.（He’s not as experienced in welldrilling， so the wells are actually dug by expert groups like International Rescue Committee.）

Youth activism has a long history， but this ethos of public service is on the ascent today—and today’s kids don’t just protest against injustices， as my contemporaries did. Many are also remarkable problem-solvers.

As for Ms. Paul， she’s planning a trip on the anniversary of her daughter’s death next year to see some of the wells being drilled in Africa in her daughter’s name. “It’ll be overwhelming to see Rachel’s wells，” she said， “to see what my 9-year-old daughter has done for people all over the world， to meet the people she has touched.”

Rachel Beckwith： R.I.P.， and may my generation learn from yours.

也許自亞當和夏娃的時代以來，每一代的老家伙們都會對年輕人滿腹牢騷，如今也不例外。難道還不夠明顯嗎？與光輝優異的“我們”相比，如今的孩子們全都自私自大、沉迷于臉譜網且思想淺薄。

不對，實際上這種想法大錯特錯。如今的“大人們”，個個自私自利，政治無能，難當大任，看著就叫人沮喪。反而許多年輕人還沒有學會憤世嫉俗。他們極其熱忱地相信自己能夠創造一個更加美好的世界。

在這個酷熱的盛夏，瑞秋·貝克維茲的事跡讓我對人性又重拾信心。她教會我們這代人更深刻地理解什么是成熟和無私——盡管她才九歲，或者說，在她于2011年7月23日去世時，年僅九歲。

瑞秋住在西雅圖市郊，很小的時候就表現出樂于奉獻的心愿。五歲那年，她在學校里得知一個名叫“愛之發”的組織，該組織將人們捐贈的頭發制成假發，送給因患癌癥或其他疾病而失去頭發的孩子們。于是瑞秋要求剪掉自己的長發，捐給“愛之發”組織。

“她說她想幫助那些身患癌癥的孩子們，”她的母親薩曼莎·保羅告訴我。剪短頭發以后，瑞秋宣布自己要再次蓄起長發，幾年以后再次捐給“愛之發”組織。她真的說到做到。

后來在她八歲那年，她所屬的教會開始籌集資金，通過一個名為“慈善之水”的組織為非洲挖掘水井。當得知其他孩子缺乏潔凈用水時，瑞秋很是震驚，于是她要求取消自己的九歲生日派對。她不讓朋友們送生日禮物，而是讓他們每個人給“慈善之水”組織在非洲的水源工程捐款九美元。

6月12日是瑞秋的九歲生日，她在“慈善之水”的網站上建了一個生日網頁，目標是募集300美元。可惜的是，瑞秋只籌集到220美元——這給她留下了些許遺憾。

7月20日，當瑞秋同其家人坐車行駛在高速公路上時，兩輛卡車相撞，并造成了13輛車連環相撞。瑞秋家的車被其中一輛卡車撞上了，盡管其家人都未受傷，瑞秋卻傷勢嚴重。

她的教友和朋友們希望以某種方式表示支持，他們開始向瑞秋的生日網頁（charitywater.org/Rachel）捐款，善款激增，超過了她300美元的目標，并持續攀升。當家人和朋友們圍聚在瑞秋的病床邊時，他們能夠告訴她——即使不知道她是否能夠聽到他們說的話——她為“慈善之水”所籌集的款額已經超過了47544美元，即歌手賈斯丁·比伯17歲生日時所籌集到的數目。

“我想她一直偷偷喜歡他，但她從來都不承認，” 她母親說，“我想她肯定樂壞了。”

當瑞秋顯然再也無法恢復意識時，其家人決定移除她的生命維持裝置。她的父母親最后一次將她的頭發捐給了“愛之發”，并將她的器官捐贈給了其他孩子。瑞秋生前最后的募捐事跡就此傳開了。

捐款源源不斷地涌來，通常每筆都是9美元，盡管其中有個5歲的小女孩將她儲蓄罐里的2.27美元全部捐了出來。募款總額很快便超過了10萬美元，接著是30萬美元。和其他人一樣，我也深受感動并捐了款。在我寫下這篇文章之時，來自世界各地的捐款已經超過了85萬美元，其中也有來自非洲朋友的捐款，他們也對這個心系他們家園的美國小女孩深表敬意。

“瑞秋最鼓舞人心之處在于，她給成年人上了一課，”“慈善之水”組織的創建人斯科特·哈里森說，“成年人在這個無私的小女孩面前自慚形穢。”

然而，這并不僅僅是一個小女孩的故事，而是一代年輕人如何充滿創意地讓這個世界更加美好的故事。哈里森先生便是這些年輕人的代表。現年35歲的他在其30歲那年創建了“慈善之水”組織，組織的發展與他對社交媒體的熟悉很有關系。（他對挖井并不在行，水井都是由來自國際救援委員會等組織的專家們開鑿的。）

年輕人的行動主義由來已久，但這種熱心公益服務的思潮如今正處于上升時期——而如今的孩子們并不只是抗議不平等現象（像我這輩人曾經所做的那樣），許多人也是解決問題的高手。

至于保羅女士，她正打算在其女兒去世一周年祭時前往非洲，親眼看看那些正在挖掘的以其女兒的名字命名的水井。“去看瑞秋的水井，這是會讓我情不自勝的一刻，”她說，“去看看我九歲的女兒為全世界的人們做了些什么，去見見那些被她感動過的人。”

瑞秋·貝克維茲，愿你安息，愿吾輩能向汝輩學習。