While many people know of Helen Keller’s accomplishments and draw inspiration from her words, very few know about how a blind German woman—a woman who many call the “modern day Helen Keller”—set out alone on horseback and rode across China, bound for Tibet, on a mission to help improve the lives of those equally challenged in the oppressed region.  

In 1998, after completing her university studies in Tibetology, Sabriye Tenberken established a teaching organization called Braille Without Borders (BWB). Her mission was to train and educate the blind children of Tibet and teach them how to improve their self-esteem and become contributing members of society. The school opened with one teacher and six students.

Blind in Tibet
She explained, “I wanted to do development work, to travel and have an adventurous life. And then I thought, ‘What region sounds adventurous enough to me?’ And then I found out about Tibet. I created a Braille system for the Tibetan language and decided to go to Tibet by myself, without a sighted person, to prove that blind people are capable of traveling and to convince the people that I could also run the project.”

At first everyone thought she was crazy. "They couldn't imagine I could come to Tibet," she recalled. "They said, ‘It's not possible. She's blind; who can take care of her, who can take her around?' "

Treatment of Blind Children in Tibet
Tenberken was horrified at what she found when she arrived. "I first met blind children who were 4 or 5 years old and looked like infants,” she said. “They were tied to the bed and hadn't learned to walk because their parents hadn't taught them. They couldn’t believe that I was blind myself and I was looking for children, because blind children had no value at all in society."

Before she arrived, people in Tibet saw blindness as a punishment for something you have done wrong in a past life. They believed blind people were possessed by demons.

Braille Without Borders
A decade after she made her first trip to Tibet, Braille Without Borders has established its home in the capital city of Lhasa. BWB emphasizes living skills like cooking, hygiene, and self-reliance. It also teaches workplace skills like computer use and Tibetan, Chinese, and English. Training is also offered in careers like massage therapy and music. Some of Tenberken’s original students have gone on to begin their university studies, while others have become teachers themselves.  

“They come to our project at first and think that blindness is something to be really embarrassed about and later they learn that they don’t have to be ashamed if they are blind. Then they celebrate it and see blindness as a chance. They can jump back into society and say ‘I’m blind, so what? I can do so many things,’” Tenberken said.

Erik Weihenmayer: Blindsight
In 2004, blind American mountaineer, Erik Weihenmayer traveled to Tibet to meet Sabriye Tenberken and lead six Tibetan teenagers from her school on a climb of the 23,000 foot Lhakpa Ri on the north side of Mount Everest. Their story was recounted in the award winning documentary Blindsight that is now showing in theaters across the United States. Through special screenings, as well as through the efforts of Friends of Braille without Borders, more than $250,000 has been raised to support the ongoing efforts of the organization.

IISE Establishment
One of BWB’s most ambitious efforts to date is the establishment of the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) in Kerala, India. Through the IISE, Braille without Borders aims to empower those blind and visually impaired people who feel an urge to make a positive change in their country, society, or surroundings. In a year long course, the IISE will train 25 to 40 participants (age 18 and older) who have the right initiative, motivation, and potential to establish and run their own social projects. They will be trained in management, fundraising, PR activities, project planning, computer technology, English, communication, and soft skills.

After their training is complete, these young leaders will be in a position to fight for the rights of their supporters, to negotiate with governmental leaders, and to help change the attitudes towards marginalized groups by setting up social and/or environmental projects in their own regions or countries.

With plans to expand the school in Tibet and across international borders, Sabriye Tenberken’s is realizing her dreams. Lightheartedly reflecting on the growth of her program but still well aware of the difficult plight that blind people face all around the world, she joked with the New York Times and concluded, “A blind child will never be able to drive a truck. But they can read and write in the dark," she said. "And who else can do that?"

Additional Information
Learn more about Sabriye Tenberken, Braille Without Borders and the Friends of Braille Without Borders Foundation. To learn more about Blindsight, visit their site.  Sabriye Tenberken is also the author of My Path Leads to Tibet which is available in English through Arcade Publishing.

Photo Credits: Braille without Borders