by Matt Ford

We all face crossroads in life， but few present choices as 1）stark as those confronting Chris Mburu as he grew up in rural Kenya. He was an exceptionally bright and hard-working lad， but the road to secondary education—and a better life—was exclusively for the well-off. It was the other path， towards a life of poverty and hard 2）graft in the fields， that he would have to take.

Or at least， that was the case until he became the 3）beneficiary of charitable sponsorship by a Swedish woman， Hilde Back. A 4）thought-provoking new documentary， A Small Act， shows how her$15-a-month sponsorship enabled him not only to complete his school education， but to attend the University of Nairobi and Harvard law school. It all 5）culminated with a career as a human rights investigator for the United Nations.

Mburu never forgot the sponsor who changed his life. But it wasnt until American film-maker Jennifer Arnold came to him with a plan for making a film about his experience that he had the chance to meet Back and tell her what he had always wanted to say face to face： “Thank you”.

“I think the thing that really drew me to the story in the first place was the idea that an ordinary， everyday person can have a quite extraordinary effect on the world， just by doing something small，”Arnold said.

The 6）poignancy of Backs charitable act became even more profound when it emerged that she had fled to Sweden as a child to escape the Holocaust. Yet decades later， her regular gift had educated a man who would， without knowing of her experience， dedicate his working life to investigating crimes against humanity around the world—as well as set up his own charity， The Hilde Back Education Fund， which now helps more poor Kenyan children afford education.

“We hope this film will deliver the message that a small act can indeed go a long way and affect a whole community and society at large，” says Mburu. “And I think we are seeing this already， because a lot of people are seeing the film and saying that they want to do their own ‘small act. We are really encouraging that.”

The film also follows the extremely moving story of three of the brightest children at a rural primary school as they prepare for their difficult 7）KCPE exam at the end of primary school. Its genuinely 8）edge-of-the-seat stuff： getting top marks puts them in the running for one of Mburus scholarships and， with that， the potential to change their own and their families lives forever.

“Initially， we just wanted to make a great film， but it quickly became clear it would go way beyond that，” says Arnold. “So many people have now seen the film， been inspired and got involved with the Hilde Back fund.”

Its a tribute to all involved with the making of A Small Act that， in the 10 days after its premiere at Sundance in 2010， the Hilde Back Education Fund raised $90，000， transforming the charity from a local to a national organisation.

“When we started the whole mission， we could only help 10 kids a year， but now， after making this film， we are able to reach out to a lot more kids，” says Mburu， whose organisation now helps 160 children.

“Its discouraging when you cant help everyone that needs help， but its so encouraging when you see the ones that you can help going on， getting through and getting a better life.”

Mburu believes education is the key to solving the political and 9）sectarian conflicts that rip up so much of Africa. “Without jobs and education， it is easy for politicians to give people a really insignificant amount of money to do terrible things，”he says. “With an education， they can make their own choice， they can be free. This is my message.”

我們都會在人生的十字路口面臨各種抉擇，但少有像在肯尼亞農(nóng)村長大的克里斯·穆布魯遭遇的這般赤裸殘酷。他是一個(gè)極其聰明且勤奮的小伙子，但通往中等教育的路——以及更好的生活——只屬于有錢人。他不得不選擇的是另一條截然不同的路，一條通往貧窮和在田間埋頭苦干的路。

或許他的情況將大致如此，直到他成為了一項(xiàng)慈善贊助的受益人——由一位名叫希爾德·貝克的瑞典女子提供。一部發(fā)人深省的新紀(jì)錄片——《小小的善舉》，講述了貝克每月15美金的贊助費(fèi)不僅幫助穆布魯完成了學(xué)校教育，還助他進(jìn)入了內(nèi)羅畢大學(xué)和哈佛大學(xué)法學(xué)院。這個(gè)故事以他成為了一名聯(lián)合國人權(quán)調(diào)查員而作結(jié)。

穆布魯永遠(yuǎn)不會忘記那位改變了他一生的贊助者。但若不是美國電影制作人詹妮弗·阿諾德打算要拍一部關(guān)于其個(gè)人經(jīng)歷的電影來找他，他也沒有機(jī)會與貝克會面并當(dāng)面對她說出一直想說的“謝謝”。

“我覺得這個(gè)故事最吸引我的是那個(gè)理念，一個(gè)平凡的普通人也能給這個(gè)世界帶來非常巨大的影響，而他只不過是在做一些小事兒，”阿諾德說道。

貝克的慈善之舉背后隱含了另一段辛酸故事，原來她兒時(shí)是為了躲避大屠殺才逃去瑞典的——這令她的善舉顯得更為深刻。幾十年后，她定期的贈予培養(yǎng)出一名致力于在全世界范圍內(nèi)調(diào)查反人道罪行的青年——而他對貝克的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷卻毫不知情，同時(shí)，他設(shè)立了自己的慈善組織——希爾德·貝克教育基金會，如今該基金會幫助更多貧窮的肯尼亞孩子接受教育。

“我們希望這部影片能傳達(dá)出這樣的信息：一個(gè)小小的善舉確實(shí)大有幫助并對整個(gè)社區(qū)乃至全社會帶來影響，”穆布魯如是說?！岸椅蚁胛覀円呀?jīng)看到這些效果了，因?yàn)楹芏嗳丝戳穗娪岸颊f他們也想做出自己‘小小的善舉。我們對此非常支持?！?/p>

影片還敘述了關(guān)于一所農(nóng)村小學(xué)里三個(gè)最聰明的孩子的故事，他們在為難度很大的肯尼亞小學(xué)畢業(yè)證書考試而努力。當(dāng)中扣人心弦的“劇情”是：考得最高分者將有機(jī)會獲得穆布魯?shù)莫?jiǎng)學(xué)金，并有可能在這份獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的幫助下，從此改變自己和家人的生活。

“最初，我們只是想制作一部好電影，但很快它明顯地超出我們的預(yù)想，”阿諾德說?！昂芏嗳丝戳诉@部影片后，受到感召，并且參與到希爾德·貝克基金會去?！?/p>

對于全體參與制作《小小的善舉》這部影片的人來說，這是一種褒獎(jiǎng)：在2010年的圣丹斯電影節(jié)上首映后的10天內(nèi)，希爾德·貝克教育基金會就籌集到九萬美金，并使得該慈善組織從一個(gè)地方組織轉(zhuǎn)變成一個(gè)全國性的組織。

“當(dāng)我們剛創(chuàng)立這個(gè)資助組織時(shí)，我們一年僅能幫助十個(gè)孩子，但如今，通過制作這部影片，我們能夠向更多的孩子伸出援手了，”穆布魯說，如今他的組織為160名孩子提供資助。

“當(dāng)你無法幫助每一個(gè)需要援助的人時(shí)，你會感到沮喪難過，但當(dāng)你看到那些你能幫助的人繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，跨越障礙并過上更好的生活時(shí)，你就會備受鼓舞。”

穆布魯相信教育是解決非洲地區(qū)頻繁的政治和宗派沖突的關(guān)鍵?！皼]有工作和教育，人們就容易受到政治家的教唆而為了一點(diǎn)微不足道的錢去做極其惡劣的事，”他說。“有了教育，他們就能自己做選擇，他們就能夠獲得自由。這就是我受到的啟示?！?/p>