Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Sunday Morning

German Woman Founds School for Blind Children of Tibet

Aired September 08, 2002 - 08:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Veronica Pedrosa has our next story. It's about a German woman far from home who has found love and fulfillment helping children overcome a handicap.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA PEDROSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sabriye Tenberken has been blind since the age of 12, but that hasn't slowed her pace in pursuing adventure. She runs a school in Lassa (ph) for blind children. Tibet lured her with the colors she wanted to see.

SABRIYE TENBERKEN, CO-FOUNDER, BRAILLE WITHOUT BORDERS: You know, the blue sky, the wonderful blue sky, and the red and yellow mountains. And, also, you know, the width of the landscape. And especially, also maybe this adventurous life there in Tibet. You know, with the horses and the yaks and in a way, that was very, very fascinating when I started to study Tibetology.

PEDROSA: Blindness is a huge problem among Tibetans because of high UV light radiation and the lack of vitamin A. The burning of yak dung instead of firewood makes it worse.

TENBERKEN: And this yak dung, this dry yak dung -- well, it warms very nicely, but it doesn't burn properly. So the soot is laying down on the cornea. And when they wipe with their dirty hands and their fingers in the eyes, then the cornea gets infected. And they get big, big eye problems.

PEDROSA: Tenberken created a Braille script based on Tibetan syllables and took it to Tibet in 1997 by herself. On horseback, she searched for blind people around Lassa (ph).

TENBERKEN: It was, for some ways, very, very depressing. For example, we met families with blind children, blind children who couldn't walk at the age of 4. They were tied to the bed, because the parents -- not because the parents, they were not mean or something, but they had the feeling they don't know really what to do with a blind girl or a blind boy. So they put them to the bed and tied them to the bed so that they cannot harm themselves. And that was very, very sad.

PEDROSA: Tenberken was able to convince local officials to open the door to her project. Then, while still planning the school, she met a vacationing engineer from a Dutch resort.

PAUL KRONENBERG, CO-FOUNDER, BRAILLE WITHOUT BORDERS: First day I got there, then I met Sabriye. And of course -- well, she told me her story, and yeah, it was fascinating, the way she was handling her traveling on her own, the way she was planning the project and stuff. So I said, keep me informed, and we might do it together. And that's what happened.

PEDROSA: What happened was that love began, and the couple have been running the school in Lassa (ph) for the past four years. About 30 children study Tibetan, Chinese and English in Braille. They also learn basic living methods and job skills such as massage to prepare for them to integrate into society.

KRONENBERG: There is a Swiss friend of ours, and he wants to come over to teach people how to make Swiss cheese, half-hard cheese and also mozzarella -- we want to call it lassarella (ph). And this will go to tourists and to restaurants so that we can generate some income locally.

PEDROSA: Tenberken translates local school books into Braille and prints them at the school. Most teachers are blind themselves, such as this music teacher, a famous (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Tenberken found on Lassa (ph) streets.

Funded mostly by private foundations, Tenberken and Kronenberg run the school on a modest $2,000 a month. Now, they want to take their project beyond Tibet, calling it Braille Without Borders.

KRONENBERG: It's like -- similar to Doctors Without Borders. It like it could be any country in the world. But it has a double meaning, because without borders means also that we don't want to set borders for blind people.

CROWD (singing): We are the world (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And that report was from CNN's Veronica Pedrosa.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com