Personal File
Name： Sabriye TenberkenNationality： GermanOccupation： TeacherTime in China： 10 yearsShe is tender， perceptive， blessed with asonorous voice that carries as far as she wills itto go. She can do perhaps most things a “normal adult can， except drive a car. Her mind is crystalclear， and lights up the lives of the blind Tibetanchildren under her aegis. They flock around her，basking in her rays of warmth and affection.
To them， she could be the reincarnation of aBodhisattva; yet， she’s but an ordinary mortal，a blind lady from Germany. She is Sabriye Tenberken.
23 0 The Tibetan Training Center for the Blind in Lhasa has been inoperation for about 10 years now.
Of Tibet’s population of 2.6 million， 35，000 are visually impaired.
This high percentage is attributable to both climate and hygiene： dust，strong winds， thick snow， ultraviolet radiation， soot and smoke fromheating coal and yak dung， and vitamin A deficiency caused by poornutrition. Inadequate social protection and the harsh physical environmentconspire to set the blind back further. They have limited job opportunities，a lack of education and living skills， a gloomy outlook onlife， in great part due to scant respect shown them by their communities.
Braille Without Borders， an international organization set up bySabriye Tenberken， a visually challenged German lady， and Paul Kronenberg，a Dutch engineer， commits itself to the cause of training theblind. It seeks to empower them with knowledge and skills， so theycan be absorbed into society as fully functional， respected citizens.
I interviewed Sabriye， Paul and their students at the TibetenTraining Center for the Blind at Jiangsu Road， Lhasa， on July 27 ，2007.
Braille Without Borders is a story of love， aspiration and determinationto overcome the odds. The school comprises 10 massage therapists，114 students — 15 of whom have been transferred to ordinaryschools — and a farm， used to train them in living skills.
Entering the World of Blind Children“Strong hands， accurate with pressure points … your massage isso good that I’ve fallen asleep… Tashi is an old hand （pun intended） at receiving complimentssuch as these from his clients. Fortunate to have had teachers fromcountries as diverse as Switzerland， Vietnam and China， Tashi isskilled at a variety of massage： Thai， European， Chinese， as well asfoot massage， weight loss treatment， and SPA treatment. The first medicalmassage center operated by the blind in Lhasa， the Medical MassageClinic， Tibet， was founded in 2003. There are currently six massagetherapists， four of them are now taking a more advanced trainingcourse in Beijing. The Clinic operates smoothly， with a monthly incomeof more than 5，000 yuan， and most of its clients are foreigners，perhaps because most of the therapists here speak English. During hismassage sessions， Tashi feels no language barriers between his guestsand him （although he did ask our correspondent to speak in English， asdid some other interviewees）。
Tenzin and Tashi were once classmates， and have now graduatedto being colleagues. Tenzin was a yak herder before he joinedthe school for the blind. One day in 1998， when he was out with hisherd， he heard a conversation between Sabriye and his mother. Tenzin’
232 s mother was skeptical at first about the school， and also could not believethat the little dots （Braille） were alphabet characters.
“This foreign girl is a swindler，” his mother said. “You wouldlose your strength if you went with her， eating and drinking well withoutdoing any work. However Sabriye did not give up. She told Tenzin’s mother thatshe would pick him up seven days later， and asked her to make the decisionafter visiting the school.
Seven days later， Tenzin became the first student at the schoolfor the blind. He started to learn massage therapy from the age of 14，and learned to support his family from that year on. On May 1， 2006，Tenzin introduced himself to his clients. “I am blind. I used to be quiteself-conscious; however I became confident of myself once I learnedEnglish， because I am the only one in my hometown （Namu Township）
who can speak English and has massaging skills. At present， Tenzin is a massage therapist at the Medical MassageClinic， and a teacher of Tibetan and physical exercises in the school.
Tenzin’s dream is to open a massage clinic of his own.
In Lhaze County， there resides a six-member family， once uniquefor nothing but the fact that four of them were visually impaired， andthus reviled and virtually ex-communicated by the rest of the village.
Jampa， Derjee and Kyila， the three children， were born blind. In theyear 2000， they enrolled in the school for the blind. They graduatedthree years later， and Jampa was the first to get a job， as an interpreterat the local Farmer’s Hotel. She then moved to Lhasa， and is now aninterpreter at an international medical organization.
Jampa is quite proud of the three of them， because they are theonly ones who can speak English in the Lhaze County. Jampa plansto open a teahouse in the village to cater for foreigners; Kyila teachesEnglish at the Tibetan Training Center for the Blind， and is in chargeof translation and administrative matters there. She opened a MedicalMassage Clinic in Lhasa with Dorjee in 2003. In 2005， she had theopportunity to learn English in the UK for one year， and her languageskills even surprised people there. Kyila now wishes to open a restau rant or coffee shop in Lhasa. She is also quite keen on business administration.
Consequently Sabriye invited Matthew， the American economist，to teach business skills to the students interested in this vocation.
The three siblings， Jampa， Derjee and Kyila， once dependent ongovernment support to survive， and the object of ridicule in their village，are now envied by everyone around. Their parents have reason tobe proud of their children.
