Adnan Mahmud曾在孟加拉国偶遇一个陌生人，这个人让他知道，即使他并不富有，也能够帮助这个世界变得更美好。此后，他建立了Jolkona基金，努力实现这一目标。Jolkona基金是一个非盈利项目，它将小额的捐款交给世界范围内特定的人或事务。 

作者：Jake Siegel    翻译：谢钰琪

 

Adnan Mahmud对慈善事业的想法源自于一个墓地。

 

2006年，在微软亚洲研究院担任项目经理的Adnan Muhmud回到孟加拉国看望父母。一天，他去墓地拜祭祖父，离开时从一个中年男人身边经过，这个男人引起了Adnan的注意，因为他手里紧紧抱着一具没有温度的尸体，那是他刚去世的儿子。这位父亲面容憔悴而黯淡，看上去很无助，只是低声啜泣。孩子身上只穿着短裤和衬衣，衬衣上面连扣子都没有——很显然，他父亲买不起穆斯林葬礼用的服饰(burial cloth)，也没有钱为儿子举行一个像样的葬礼。

 

Mahmud后来才想到，为儿子买一块墓地可能花光了男人所有的积蓄，以至于连买衣服的钱都不剩了。当Mahmud走出墓地后，发现外面就有小贩在卖50美分一件的葬服。“我本来能帮他的，只要1美元就可以，但是等我意识到的时候，我已经坐在家吃饭了”，Mahmud带着遗憾地回忆到。

 

即使是很少的一点钱也能够给他人的生活带来巨大的影响——这种想法给Mahmud带来了巨大的转变。他曾认为，自己总有回报社会的一天，但这一天要等到他不再工作的时候。但在孟加拉国遇到的这位陌生人彻底改变了他的想法，使他认识到现在就可以帮助别人，即使他没有比尔·盖茨和沃伦·巴菲特的支票簿。

 

考虑到其他的年轻职场人也可能有同样的想法，于是他开始筹备一个网站，在这里，人们即使没有很多钱也能感受到参与慈善工作的快乐。2007年，Mahmud和他的太太Nadia创建了Jolkona基金，人们可以通过这一非营利机构将小额的钱捐给特定的人或事务，同时也可以看到自己的捐助所带来的效果。

 

Mahmud说，Jolkona基金关注小额捐款产生的改变，可以让捐助者对自己的捐款去向有直接的控制，从而激励有心于慈善事业的年轻一代用自己不多的资源来帮助他人。 

基金的网站让捐助者看到Jolkona基金在世界范围内的影响力  

 

“Jolkona”在孟加拉语的意思是“一滴水”，“任何的捐助都是一滴水，”Mahmud说，“当把它们汇集起来的时候，就能产生连锁反应，并改变整个世界。”

 

Jolkona基金的网站在六月投入使用，到目前为止共收到15,000多美元的捐款，用于资助世界各地的项目。在这个网站上，捐助者能够自由选择资助哪些项目，这些项目主要分为以下五个类别：文化、教育、激励、环境和公共医疗；捐助者也可按照金额和时间进行筛选：最低金额是5美元，时间范围从短于一个月到长达六年都有。举例说来，小到用5美元在巴西植一棵树，大到用500美元资助一个肯尼亚流浪儿童读一年高中，Jolkona基金汇集了各种捐助项目。

 

Mahmud说，Jolkona基金是第一个在捐助水平上提供反馈的网站，捐助者可以得到一个反馈报告，从而了解自己的捐款被用到了哪里。例如，如果一个捐助者资助在卢旺达进行的购书项目，那么他（她）将得到书目列表作为反馈。

 

在结束孟加拉国之行后，Mahmud开始寻找帮助他人的方式，在这一过程中他认识到反馈的力量。他以前在与大型的非营利性组织联系时常常感到失望，因为这些组织很少允许捐助者选择捐助项目，捐助者也很难知道他（她）的捐款用到了什么地方。后来，孟加拉国的一个捐助假肢的项目吸引了他的注意：只要捐助者支付200美金，该项目便会为某个需要帮助的人安装假肢。当他询问如何能确保自己的钱被用到合适的地方时，项目的工作人员回答：“我们把接受者安装假肢的前后对比照片发给你怎么样？”

 

Mahmud认为，能够看到自己的捐款产生实际效果是个非常好的主意。他曾就此询问自己的朋友，发现他们也非常认可：“一般情况下，我们不知道自己的捐款被用到了哪里，我们也没有太多的钱来帮助别人。但是这个组织告诉我只用200美元就可以给一个人提供假肢，并且给我一张照片告诉我有一个人因此而获益，那么我就肯定会把我的钱捐给这个组织。” 

 

一位微软的员工参加上述项目，他得到上面的照片来证明他的捐款发挥了实际的效用，照片中的人因为他的善举而获益。

 

Mahmud自己是个技术人员，他考虑建立一个网站来追踪朋友们的捐款去向，但这并不仅仅是一个组织的问题：“我意识我们这一代的年轻人一直在寻找类似的捐款方式，希望能获得捐款去向的反馈，但这种反馈往往只有捐助大量金钱的人才能获得。”

 

Jolkona基金为这种现象提供了一个很好的解决方案，目前这一网站已运行了半年，Mahmud为网站所收到的良好反响而感到骄傲。他希望能够有更多的伙伴和新的项目加入进来，从而使得网站的理念为更多人所知。他鼓励身边越来越多的微软员工参与其中，并能利用假期做出力所能及的帮助。

 

Mahmud说，Silverlight和Bing Maps为这个网站提供了支持， Jolkona基金希望获得的东西正是建立在技术的基础之上的。

 

“我相信，100年之后，我们所实现的技术进步并不会使我们被人们铭记；但这些技术进步帮助人类战胜了种种挑战，这一作用却能将我们留在人们的记忆之中。”

  

以下是Adnan接受CNN记者采访的视频（英文），他详细的介绍了Jolkona基金的源起、理念和发展：

 

 

 

欢迎关注微软亚洲研究院微博：http://t.sina.com.cn/msra

 

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关于Adnan Mahmud：

 

Adnan Mahmud是Jolkona基金的创建者之一，任Jolkona基金的CEO。除此之外，Adnan还有另外一个身份——微软亚洲研究院创新工程中心（IEG）的项目经理。在取得安哥拉州立大学(Angelo State University)的学士学位之后，他在南加州大学(University of Southern California)取得计算机科学的硕士学位。

 

Adnan在孟加拉国长大，他目睹过许多人经受种种痛苦折磨，从而促使他创立了Jolkona慈善基金。这些深陷痛苦的人固然不幸，但是他也看到了运用科技改善不幸者生活的曙光。作为Jolkona基金的CEO，Adnan带领着Jolkona团队与世界范围内的优秀同伴进行合作，创造各种捐助机会，并运用科技去帮助那些不幸的人们。

 

 

附录:英文原文

Trip to Cemetery Creates Life-Changing Moment

 

A stranger in Bangladesh helped Adnan Mahmud realize he could help make the world a better place without much money. He did it by creating Jolkona Foundation, a nonprofit that channels small donations to specific people and causes across the world.

By Jake Siegel

December 9, 2009

 

 

Adnan Mahmud's quest to change philanthropy started in a cemetery.

 

It was 2006. The Microsoft Research program manager was visiting his parents in Bangladesh, where he grew up. During the trip, Mahmud went to pay his respects at his grandfather's grave. As he left the cemetery, he passed a man carrying his dead son. The man clearly couldn't afford a proper funeral or the traditional Muslim burial cloth; the dead child wore shorts and an unbuttoned shirt.

 

Mahmud figured the man had spent all his money securing a grave for his son. Just outside the cemetery, vendors were selling burial cloth for 50 cents. "I could have helped him out with a dollar, but when I realized that, I was already home having lunch," he said.

 

The recognition that even a small amount of money could make a big impact on someone's life was a revelation, Mahmud said. He always knew that someday he would dedicate himself to giving back, but that would come after his career. That stranger in Bangladesh made him realize he could help now, even without the checkbook of Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. 

 

Thinking that many other young professionals must feel the same way, he set out to build a Web site where people could get excited about philanthropy without having a lot of money. In 2007, Mahmud and his wife, Nadia, created Jolkona Foundation. The nonprofit organization lets people channel small donations to specific people and causes while letting them monitor the impact of their gift.

 

By focusing on small-scale gifts that show a direct impact, the foundation allows donors to have direct control over where and how their donations are spent, Mahmud said. The goal is to galvanize a young generation that wants to do good with its limited resources. 

The foundation's Web site lets donors see the Jolkona community's impact around the world.

 

Jolkona means "drop of water" in Bengali. "The idea is that every donation is a drop of water," Mahmud said. "With a lot of them, we can have a ripple effect and change the world."

 

The Jolkona Foundation site went live in June, and since then more than $15,000 has been raised for projects around the world. At the site, would-be donors can pinpoint projects in countries where they want to contribute and choose from five categories: cultural identity, education, empowerment, environment, and public health. Projects can be filtered by the amount of money needed, starting at as little as $5; and by the duration, from less than a month to six years. They can range from $5 to plant a tree in Brazil to $500 for sending a nomadic Kenyan boy or girl to high school for a year.

 

As far as Mahmud knows, Jolkona Foundation created the first Web site that provides donation-level feedback. Everyone who makes a donation through the site gets a report card on how that money is being spent. If a donor provides money for, say, buying books in Rwanda, he or she will get a list of the purchased titles.

 

Mahmud realized the power of that feedback as he started searching for ways to contribute after his trip to Bangladesh. He had always been put off by large nonprofits because it was difficult to choose specific programs or know exactly how his contributions were used. When he found an organization in Bangladesh that provides artificial limbs for $200, he asked them how he would know that he was doing the right thing with his money. They told him, "What if we send you a before and after photo of the person who received the prosthetic limb?"

 

He loved the idea of seeing the impact of his donation. Many of his friends were also excited when he reached out to see whether others wanted to help. "They said, 'Normally we don't know where our money goes, and we don't have a lot of money to give. If this organization tells me that my $200 will buy someone a limb, and then shows me a picture of the person it helped, then yes, I'll give them my money.'"

​

Because of the generosity of a Microsoft employee, this person in Bangladesh received prosthetic limbs. The donor received these photos as the proof of impact.

 

Being a self-described technology guy, Mahmud thought about putting together a Web site to track his friends' donations. It wasn't just a problem with one organization, though. "I realized that what people in my generation were seeking was donation-level feedback that was traditionally reserved for the big donors," he said.

 

Jolkona Foundation was the result. Half a year after the site went live, Mahmud said he's proud of the response so far. He hopes to continue to add more partners and projects and to spread the word about the site. He encourages all Microsoft employees to try the site out and make a gift this holiday season.

Silverlight and Bing Maps help power the site, Mahmud said, adding that technology lies at the heart of what Jolkona Foundation is trying to accomplish.

 

"I've always loved technology. I truly believe that in 100 years, our generation won't be known for the technological advances that we've made. Rather, we'll be known for how those technological advances were used to tackle humanity's biggest challenges."

  

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About Adnan Mahmud:

 

Adnan Mahmud is the co-founder of Jolkona Foundation and serves as its CEO. He also has a day-time job – a full-time Program Manager at Microsoft Corporation. He holds a BS from Angelo State University and a MS degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

 

Adnan's motivation for starting Jolkona Foundation comes from having grown up in Bangladesh and witnessing some of the worst conditions that humans are forced to live through. Although these conditions are very unfortunate, he sees opportunities for using technology to improve these conditions. As CEO, Adnan leads Jolkona Foundation to pursue these opportunities by collaborating with unique and effective partners around the world and creating compelling donor experiences.