本月早些时候，苏珊·内勒从非洲返回的航班降落在圣安东尼奥, 这是她七年来第二次去多哥旅行. 这次旅行与她第一次为纪念已故儿子而创办小学的旅行大不相同, Will Smith, who, at 8 years old, was killed in a car accident in 2007.
在威尔失去他年轻的生命之前，内勒一家访问了非洲南部的赞比亚. 当时6岁的他被那些没有他幸运的孩子们所感动.
“村子里的孩子们都在问，有一天他们能不能用我们的空水瓶,” Naylor ’84 remembers about the family trip. “That night, Will said, ‘When we come back, I want to bring my toys and share my toys with them,’” she recalls.
The death of her youngest son was devastating. While vacationing in Maui, 她和威尔当时正在霍诺皮拉尼高速公路上行驶，突然被一辆从相反方向驶来的汽车迎面撞上，那辆车突然转向迎面而来的车辆. Naylor was not seriously injured; Will was banged up but, initially, it looked as if he would make it out, too.
As they waited for help, Naylor prayed. 她答应实现威尔两年前许下的愿望.
“这就是我在等救护车的时候的想法——‘帮助非洲的孩子们’，”Naylor说.
但威尔的呼吸道已经被压断，当天下午晚些时候，他在医院去世了. Shortly after, 威尔·史密斯基金会诞生于内勒的悲伤和她拒绝向悲伤屈服. 她全身心地投入到这个旨在为儿童服务的新慈善组织中.
“To me it’s taking something that was negative, and turning it into a positive,” says Naylor, whose trademark for the foundation is “Will Do®.”
该基金会的一个基石项目是她在西非建立的一所小学:威尔·史密斯导师领袖学院(Will Smith Mentor Leaders Academy), in northern Togo. 这所学院是在一位朋友的帮助下开办的，这位朋友与当地社区建立了良好的关系.
Situated on the Gulf of Guinea, 这个相对较小的非洲国家的特点是贫困率很高, ethnic tensions, and periods of political unrest. 这是她第一次航行到离该国首都大约13个小时车程的本查尔, lomoise -她亲眼目睹了农村农业社区的儿童受教育的机会有限, 而像威尔·史密斯导师领袖学院这样的学校将会带来变革.
“我在那里的一个帐篷里住了几个晚上，帐篷还是原来的样子,” she recalls about visiting the future site of the academy.
然而，快进到2019年，她自豪地报告了强劲的发展.
“There was a huge celebration this time,” says Naylor, 多哥学生用音乐和庆祝活动接待了谁. “孩子们一直在学习演奏乐队乐器，还有传统舞蹈.”
如今，该学院招收高中学生，并设有图书馆.
“Our first class graduates next year,” she says. “现在这个农业社区的孩子比城市里的孩子测试得更高.”
奈勒说，国外慈善企业成功的关键是可持续性.
“如果你不教他们如何继续改进，如何继续前进, it’s all going to go away,” she says. “Now, 学生们可以去上大学，把东西带回村里，继续传递下去.”
她继续为非洲和夏威夷的儿童开展慈善项目，这两个地方对奈勒来说意义非凡. No stranger to travel, 奈勒从澳门金沙赌城线上游戏(Trinity University)工商管理和历史双学位毕业后，做了20年的旅行社代理.
“I’m curious about other people’s cultures, the way they do things,” says Naylor, 她出生在圣马科斯，大部分时间都在阿拉莫度过. “我知道当我回到圣安东尼奥的家时，我感到焕然一新.”
她事业的成功让这位来自德克萨斯州牧牛家庭的自诩宅女感到意外.
“I was lucky enough to get into Trinity, so I could stay close to home,” says Naylor, who graduated from Winston Churchill High School. “Everyone else wanted to get away from their parents, go to Texas Tech or UT, but that’s the last thing I wanted to do.”
今年是内勒第35次同学会，她对母校有着美好的回忆. “Trinity was personal,” she says. “My professors, especially Drs. 唐纳德·埃弗雷特和琳达·霍尔，对他们的教学充满热情.”
Throughout college, Naylor rode show horses in hunter/jumper circuits, which kept her busy outside the Trinity classrooms. 她在威尔去世前一直是马妓，后来她退休了. But last year, she bought a horse farm in Kentucky.
“当马需要休息时，这是一种康复，”她解释说. “我们做了很多身体锻炼，包括脊椎按摩和针灸，让他们恢复健康.”
马乡或许也是内勒继续疗伤的地方. She lost her elder son, Charlie, to opioid addiction in 2016. 她说，这让她从全国性的阿片类药物危机中解脱出来, 从那以后，她就加入了圣安东尼奥的Rise Recovery.
“I do it for Charlie, so that he is always remembered, and for the other families who struggle like we did,” she says. “我的两个儿子都会被人记住，我可以把他们的心和精神发扬光大.”
