素兰20周年专栏 | 对话彭美萱（三）：如何养育下一代

2022年8月20日下午，在素兰基金会2022年年会暨成立20周年会议上，杨秀春对彭晏素兰女士之孙女、彭定中先生之女儿彭美萱（Michelle）进行了专访。受新冠疫情影响，此次会议以视频会议的形式进行。在此次访谈中，杨秀春先以中文提问，再以英文复述问题；彭美萱（Michelle）以英文回答后，杨秀春再进行英译中翻译。访谈内容经整理分为三篇，前两篇已陆续发布，此为第三篇。

关于素兰大家庭 About the Su-Lan Foundation
杨秀春：
这20年来，在你父亲的带领下，素兰家庭越来越壮大。我们想知道，在素兰基金会最初成立的那些日子，父亲有和你聊过这件事吗？还是说，是在素兰发展到一定规模的时候，比如说2007或2008年，父亲才向你介绍基金会？素兰家庭是从2007年开始组织集体活动的，你第一次和我们见面则是在2009年8月的长沙年会上。
With your father's leadership, our Su-Lan family is getting bigger and better. In the early stage of the Su-Lan foundation, around 2002, did Mr. Pang share his thoughts about this foundation with you? Or he just did what he did and spoke about the foundation with you several years later, such as in 2007 or 2008? You first met with us at the annual meeting in 2009.

彭美萱（Michelle）：
To be honest, I don't have a vivid recollection of when he first mentioned the foundation to me. I think I was still in the United States working there, and I don't think I was really aware that the wheels were in motion to establish the Su-Lan Foundation. From time to time, my father mentioned my grandmother and how she had set up a school for underprivileged children in Hunan. This left a strong impression on me because it provided another dimension about my grandmother.
坦白说，我不太记得父亲是何时第一次向我提起基金会的了。我想那时我大概还在美国工作，并且当时我对父亲着手创立基金会这件事并没有什么概念。不过父亲有时会和我说起，奶奶曾经在湖南的贫穷农村为孩子们建过一所学校，我对这件事印象很深刻，因为它让我对奶奶有了另一个层面的认识。

Now, this being the inspiration for my father and evolving into a family of 150 kids (and still expanding) was unfathomable to me. I'm unsure if my dad envisioned this when he first started. When I first attended the annual meeting, I was so surprised to see how many participants we already had. Attending these meetings yearly has become a "family reunion" more than anything. Seeing our members mature and flourish, occasionally adding on little ones to the Su-Lan family tree, is always lovely to see.
时至今日，就是因为奶奶最初的助学梦想，父亲创立的这个基金会竟然发展成为一个拥有150人的大家庭，并且这个数字还在不断增长中，这完全超出了我的意料。我不知道父亲最初启动这件事情时，是否曾料到素兰会发展到今天的规模。第一次参加素兰年会时，我很惊讶地看到我们已经有了这么多同学。更为重要的是，每年参加素兰年会已经变成我们一年一度的家庭聚会。看着同学们的成熟、活跃，有时还带来他们的小宝贝，我非常开心。

Of course, the growth was not overnight but an evolving process involving the commitment of the "time" and "hearts" of our members. As we look into the next 5 or 10 years, perhaps there's a need to think of new ways or areas to explore to keep the foundation relevant and meaningful, but what shouldn't change is our unwavering commitment to giving our time and heart for sustainable change. Such core principles make the foundation's bedrock and are non-negotiable as we're certainly not a charitable organization that tries to solve things just with money.
当然，素兰的成长不是一蹴而就的，它是一个渐进的过程，需要我们大家将心血和时间投入其中。如果我们展望素兰未来5年或10年的发展，也许我们需要探索一些新方法或新领域，来让基金会保持合适的发展节奏并维系其意义。但一定不变的是，我们要坚持用心、花时间，来确保素兰的可持续发展。这些核心原则作为基金会发展的坚定基石，是不容更改的，因为我们肯定不是一个仅以金钱来维系的慈善机构。

So, we are counting on all of you to keep these family values close to your heart and pay it forward to those around you so that the Su-Lan values lives on forever.