The Impossible Speech
发言稿《不可能》
Presented on December 17, 2016 at the 5th Anniversary Party for MilliCharity’s registration.
于2016年12月17日千分一挂牌五周年纪念活动
I’d like to thank everyone for attending today’s 5th Anniversary celebration of MilliCharity’s registration.
非常感谢大家参加今天的千分一五周年挂牌纪念活动。
Today, I’d like to share an important thought with you. I don’t believe Impossible really means what most people think. I believe Impossible really means Very difficult.
今天我想与大家分享一个想法。我们经常说的一个词“不可能”，我对不可能的理解与大家不大一样。我认为不可能的意思就是困难。
To explain this, I need to tell you a little bit of how I got where I am today, making this speech.
要解释这个想法，我得先和大家讲讲我是如何走到今天这一步，在这里给大家演讲的。
Oh no! I’m giving a speech and the audience doesn’t speak English.
Back in 2004, a friend suggested I go spend time teaching English in China. “Impossible” I thought. But the idea kept growing in my mind. Even though I was sure it would be impossible for me, I started checking out the details. It was a nice dream, so spending time on it was pleasant even though it was impossible.
2004年，在美国我一个朋友建议我试试去中国教英语。那不可能，我说。但是这个想法从此一直在我脑海里盘桓。尽管我确信这个建议对我来说是不可能的，但我还是开始查询起来。去中国教英语是个美好的梦想，所以花时间查询也是一件令人开心的事，尽管不可能实现。
Ten years ago this month, I did the impossible and arrived in Dongguan for an 8 month teaching contract.
10年前这个月，我实现了那个不可能的梦想，我来到了东莞，进行为期8个月的英语教学。
I knew my time here was short, but sometimes more impossible things can happen quickly. I spent most of my life living in very rural areas and didn’t like big cities. But, impossibly, I found that I truly loved Dongguan and the people here. Leaving after 8 months was one of the saddest days of my life.
尽管我在中国呆的时间不长，但有时不可能的事情会出人意料地发生。在美国我大部分时间都居住在乡村，我不喜欢大城市。但是不可能地我发现我爱上东莞城市和东莞人们了。8个月后离开东莞令我非常难过。
Back in the US, I was in an impossible situation. I no longer liked living out in the countryside. I loved China, especially Dongguan, but moving there permanently was impossible. The most I could hope for was to save my money to sometimes visit China, but that wasn’t enough for me.
回到美国，我处在一个不可能的状况。我不再喜欢居住在那里了，我喜欢中国，尤其是东莞。但是定居东莞是不可能的。我最盼望的就是攒点钱时常去中国看看。
I ended up getting a job working online. Over time, the workload increased and I got permission to hire one of my Chinese friends as an assistant. I flew to China for 2 months to train her. I found I could do my job from China just as well as from the US, so the chance to move seemed more possible.
后来我为一家网站工作，随着工作量的增加，我得到公司准许雇佣了我的一名中国学生。因为要培训她，我又来中国呆了2个月。我发现我在中国与在美国一样能进行工作。这样一来我长期居住中国的梦想似乎变得可能了。
Since I loved China and Dongguan so much, I wanted to be a useful member of Chinese society. I decided not to wait until I moved and started looking for a good charity here to contribute to. When I asked if there were any Chinese charities with no corruption, most of my friends said Impossible! I kept asking.
我非常热爱中国和东莞，我想为中国的社会做点有用的事。我决定不等到我迁移到中国的那一天，于是我开始寻找好的公益团队。当寻问我身边的朋友中国有没有正当的、不腐败的公益组织时，大多数朋友都说不可能有这样的团队。我没有放弃，一直寻找。
Then 2 of my Dongguan friends said they knew a man who had designed a charity method that was corruption proof. After seeing so many big US charities fall into corruption, this seemed like an impossibility I had to see for myself.
然后两个东莞朋友说他们认识一个人，他创造了一个完全无腐败的公益模式。因为在美国我见过很多大型公益组织一个个后来都步入腐败之路，所以对这话我觉得不可能，我一定要亲自见见这个人。
This is how I met Uncle Zhang and learned about the direct giving plan he designed for MilliCharity. At one point, I tried to give Uncle Zhang money for MilliCharity to buy shoes for children. He said . . . “Impossible”. Instead, he took me shopping so I could buy the shoes for the children.
这就是我如何认识坤叔和了解他的直接捐助模式。有一次，我尝试给坤叔钱让他为孩子买鞋子。坤叔说不可能，结果他带我去买鞋子，要我亲自为孩子挑选鞋子。这是多么地直接啊。
Step by step, my impossible dream was getting closer. Then there was all the paperwork. Getting all the papers done to really move to China is . . . can you guess? . . .
一步一步，我的不可能梦想似乎越来越近了。然后一大堆来中国的工作签证文件要准备，对我来说似乎，你们猜…..是不可能的。
Impossible. But I was lucky and had some help from a very lovely woman I met. I then went back to the US, packed up my stuff and did the impossible. I moved to Dongguan with the intent to stay permanently.
幸运的是，在一位可爱的中国女士的帮助下，所有的签证文件准备妥当，我回到美国打包好所有的东西，迁移到中国工作，长期居住在中国。实现了曾经不可能的梦想。
Remember that lovely woman I mentioned who helped me with my paperwork. It turned out she had a daughter. Even though it was impossible, I somehow knew her daughter was also my daughter.
前面提到的帮助我的那位可爱的中国女士，后来我发现她有一个女儿。一见到她女儿，尽管不可能但我知道那就是我的女儿。
Hey Look! I have a daughter!
The only solution to this impossible situation was to marry my daughter’s mother. I was very happy that Uncle Zhang and many other friends from MilliCharity came to the wedding.
让她真正成为我的女儿，唯一的解决办法就是娶她妈妈。非常荣兴的是坤叔和许多千分一的朋友都参加了我们的婚礼。
MilliCharity friends at our wedding
As I spent more time trying to help MilliCharity, I started sponsoring children. This was fun, but I thought that my lack of skill in speaking Chinese would make it impossible for me to do much more with the group.
随着我与千分一的进一步接触，我开始资助学生。资助学生确实很有意义，但我想我贫瘠的中文是不可能让我有机会加入千分一理事会。
Us with one of the girls we sponsor
I guess Uncle Zhang and many others disagreed with my opinion, they put me on the board of directors.
一定是坤叔和其他理事猜透了我的心思，他们不约而同推荐我加入理事。
My impossible dream still has a couple of steps left. I’ve already applied for my Chinese green card. After I get it, I have to wait one year before I’m allowed to try for something many people tell me is impossible. Chinese citizenship.
距离我永久定居中国的不可能梦想还有几步之遥。我已经申请了中国绿卡，得到绿卡一年后我就能够申请人们所说的不可能的中国国籍。
That only leaves me with one big impossibility left to figure out. Learning to speak Chinese so I can give speeches without a translator.
申请到中国国籍，就只剩一个不可能了，学好中文，这样下次演讲我就不用翻译了。
Maybe someday I’ll be able to give speeches on my own.
So, what’s the point of this whole speech? I want you to realize two things. First, that impossible is a word that really just means very difficult.
今天演讲的意义是什么呢？我希望大家明白两件事，第一，不可能这个词的意思就是很困难。
It once was impossible for a Chinese charity group to get registered without government sponsorship. 5 years ago, MilliCharity became the first charity in all of China to register without government sponsorship.
曾经不挂靠政府的中国民间公益组织要注册是不可能的事，但是5年前千分一成了全中国第一家成功注册的没有挂靠政府的民间公益组织，把不可能变成了可能。
Second, I want you to realize that overcoming something impossible sometimes requires getting help from someone else.
第二，我希望大家明白要实现不可能的事情有时需要别人的帮助。
My paperwork for regular residency seemed impossible. The green card application was even more impossible. Without the help of my lovely wife, I’d have never gotten it done.
我的签证资料和居留许可曾经也是觉得不可能，绿卡申请更是不可能。没有我妻 子的帮助，我是不可能办到的。
Right now, being able to go to school is impossible for many children in some of the poorest areas of China. Your help will change their impossible to possible.
如今，上学对一些贫困孩子来说是不可能的，你们的帮助能让他们的不可能变成可能。
MilliCharity also has other projects making the impossible possible, so ask Uncle Zhang or any of the other board members and they can tell you about ways you can make the impossible possible.
千分一还有一些其它公益项目把不可能变成可能，请与坤叔或其他理事朋友沟通，他们能让你们改变许多不可能。
I’d like to thank Uncle Zhang and the rest of MilliCharity for all they have done and continue to do for the children of China.
我想感谢坤叔和所有的千分一益友们为中国孩子们所做的以及持续要做的一切。
We hope you enjoyed the Impossible Speech.
If you are interested in sponsoring a child’s education, visit MilliCharity.com (I hope you can read Chinese better than I can). If you want to see more about the event where I presented The Impossible Speech, you can read about the 5th Anniversary Party for MilliCharity’s registration here (only in English).
如果你对助学感兴趣，请登录千分一的网站：MilliCharity.com (希望你的中文比我好)。 如果你想了解更多有关我发言那天的千分一挂牌五周年纪念活动的详
