《都市丽人》:公益组织负责人:法国女孩“授人以焙” City Beauty: The manager of a charity program – A French girl who teaches people how to bake

《都市丽人》:公益组织负责人:法国女孩“授人以焙”

《都市丽人》2013年10月刊

林兰:Floriane Lemoine是她的本名,没错,她是一个道地的法国女孩。而这个法国女孩的视野却聚焦于中国与可持续发展,她就职于由12个法国人在中国上海创办的公益组织“海上青焙坊”,为中国的贫困青年提供源自法国的高级培训,授人以渔,让受到帮助的人能够过上独立且稳定的生活。

法国女孩+法式甜品,这样的组合不禁带给人充满浪漫气息的幸福感,美好得像生活里的一个梦幻,但就在我们身边,法国女孩林兰却让这种组合变化成最脚踏实地也最真切的公益力量。

从巴黎政治大学毕业后,作为交换生,林兰来到中国,先后就读于人民大学和北京大学,远道而来的她将研究方向落在了中国与可持续发展上。在多次积极参与非营利组织活动后,她了解到贫困的人们也可以靠自己的努力走出困境,而他们需要的是其他人士与组织帮助他们开发自身的潜力。于是她毕业后的第一份工作就是选择加入由12个法国在华企业家创办的公益组织海上青焙坊(Shanghai Young Bakers),这个成立于2008年的公益组织,致力于为来自困难家庭的17到23岁的青少年提供为期一年的免费法式烘焙技术培训。在培训期间,学员们不仅要学习传统西式烘焙课程,还要学习生活技能及英语课程,以便在毕业后可以找到合适的就业机会,从而自力更生。

其实对于选择这份工作,起初林兰的家人和朋友并不能理解,“他们说我怎么可能去教别人烘焙呢?因为我会把所有东西都烧煳的!”后来林兰才让他们明白,自己并非要成为烘焙老师,而是项目经理。而成为海上青焙坊的项目经理,也意味着林兰大部分的时间都不可能回到法国,“只有圣诞节和暑假我会回去10天左右”。但将“授人以渔”变成“授人以焙”,这份工作的意义却让她甘之如饴,这个法国女孩远离了High Fashion的时装周,选择了骑着自行车穿梭在上海这座陌生的城市里,“薪水嘛,足够生活,生活之外的都丢进往返法国的机票里去啦!”运作公益组织绝非易事,作为负责人,她必须做出全盘的考量,如何通过义卖、外烩服务等方式获得资金资助,如何与媒体沟通获得舆论支持,如何安排学员们的课程、了解他们的内心,甚至如何选择每一位有资格获得这份礼物的学员——她甚至还要远离上海,前往最贫困的地区,去面对面地与申请人交流,以防疏漏能够改变他们人生的机会。

这样的工作与生活虽然辛苦,但林兰却不断从工作中获得意外惊喜。“曾经有一次,我在午餐时间走进学校时,无意中看到一名学生深深地沉浸于《百年孤独》这本书中,竟忘了吃饭。我深受感动,他初到上海时除了身上穿的衣服之外,其他什么都没有。就如同大多数孩子一样,这是他第一次背井离乡。还有另一个学生,刚开始很害羞,而且跟不上进度,但是她学习非常刻苦,在学期末的考试中成为其所在小组的第一名,现在她甚至都能在英语课上踊跃参与了!”作为项目经理,她竟能历数每一位学员的情况:“王莉、张政海和肖金金是海上青焙坊的第一届毕业生,他们毕业后前往享有盛誉的法国奥里亚克烘焙学校深造,回到上海后成为海上青焙坊的老师,他们甚至已经培训出了另一个培训师巴桑拉姆。而金会子和张帅正在学习法语课程,如果他们的法语水平足够好,也有机会去法国深造……”

或许每个人对不可思议的工作都有自己的定义,但在林兰看来,如今她做的工作,就是不可思议的!

City Beauty: The manager of a charity program – A French girl who teaches people how to bake

Lin Lan: Her original name is Floriane Lemoine and yes, she is a genuine French girl. This French girl’s vision has focused on sustainable development and China. She works for the charity organization “Shanghai Young Bakers” which was founded in Shanghai by 12 French people, providing a high-level training in French bakery to disadvantaged Chinese youth. Teach a man how to bake, and lead him to an independent and stable life.

French girl and French dessert, this combination spontaneously gives people a sense of romance and happiness, of a beautiful dreamlike lifestyle However the French girl Lin Lan turned this into a realistic and cutting-edge charity program.

After graduation from Sciences Po, Lin Lan came to China as an exchange student. She studied in Renmin University of China and Peking University successively. Coming a long way from France, she took China and sustainable development as her research orientation. Taking part in several activities held by non-profit organizations, she knew that poor people can get out of difficulty with their own efforts. What they need is just the help from other people and organizations to unlock their potential. Thus, the first job she took after graduation was to join the charity program Shanghai Young Bakers founded by 12 French entrepreneurs working in China. Founded in 2008, the organization is aimed at providing young Chinese aged 17-23 from impoverished families with z one-year French bakery training free of charge. During the training, the students not only learn traditional western baking courses, but also life skills and English courses so as to land an appropriate job and rely on themselves after graduation.

Actually, Lin Lan’s family and friends did not really understand why she chose this job at the beginning. “They asked me: how can you teach others how to bake? Your burn everything you cool!” In the end, they learned from Lin Lan that she was not going to be a bakery teacher but a project manager. To be the project manager of Shanghai Young Bakery means Lin Lan does not have much time to go back to France. “I am only able to go back for about 10 days for Christmas and the summer vacation”. However, implementing “teaching others how to fish” by teaching others how to bake brings her a lot of accomplishment.

The French girl chose a lifestyle of biking across the unfamiliar city of Shanghai insteading of wearing Fashion Week-style clothes. “My salary is enough for me to cover my living costs, anything left is spent on the flights to and from France!” It is not easy to operate a non-profit organization. As the manager, she has to take charge of everything, such as how to fund raise by organizing baking sales or consulting, how to communicate with the media to obtain public support, how to arrange students’ class schedules and learn about their feelings and even how to choose the students who are eligible to receive this gift – she has to travel to the poorest area far from Shanghai to talk with the applicants face to face, taking every opportunity to help them change their lives.

Although it is hard to work and live in this way, her work never stops surprising Floriane. “There was once when I walked into school at lunchtime, I saw a student deeply immersed in the book One Hundred Years of Solitude and even forgot to take lunch. I was deeply moved. When he just arrived in Shanghai, he had nothing besides the clothes he wore. Like most of the other children, that was his first time to be away from home. There was another student, who was very shy at the beginning, and was not be able to follow in class, but she worked very hard, and at the end of the semester, she took the first place in their group at the exam. And now she even participates very actively in the English class!” As the project manager, she even knows very well of every single student: “Wang Li, Zhang Zhenghai and Xiao Jinjin were the first graduates of Shanghai Young Bakers. After graduation, they went to the very top baking school EFBA (Ecole Francaise de Boulangerie d’Aurillac) in France to further their professional training. After that, they returned to Shanghai Young Bakers to become trainers, and they have even trained another trainer Basang Lamu. Jin Huizi and Zhang Shuai are in the process of French learning, if their French is good enough, they will also have the opportunity to go to France to keep learning bakery…… “

Perhaps every one has his or her own definition for an incredible job, but in Floriane’s eyes what she is doing just now is incredible!

(Translated by Shelia, Song Qing, Lorien, Evada and Floriane)