DEFYING EVERYONE`S ADVICE, ARMED ONLY WITH HER RUDIMENTARY KNOWLEDGE OF CHINESE AND TIBETAN,SABRIYE SET OUT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE APPALLING CONDITION OF THE TIBETAN BLIND, WHO SHE LEARNED HAD BEEN ABANDONED BY SOCIETY AND LEFT TO DIE. ON HORSEBACK THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, SHE SOUGHT THEM OUT, DEVISED A BRAILLE ALPHABET IN TIBETAN, EQUIPPED HER CHARGES WITH CANES FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND SET UP A SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND. HER EFFORTS WERE CROWNED WITH SUCH SUCCESS THAT HUNDREDS OF YOUNG BLIND TIBETANS, INSTILLED WITH A NEWFOUND PRIDE AND AN EDUCATION, HAVE NOW BECOME SELF-SUPPORTING. A TALE THAT WILL LEAVE NO READER UNMOVED, IT DEMONSTRATES ANEW THE POWER OF THE POSITIVE SPIRIT TO OVERCOME THE MOST DAUNTING ODDS. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:SABRIYE WAS BORN IN 1970 NEAR BONN. WHEN SHE WAS TWO YEARS OLD SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A RETINAL DISEASE THAT CAUSED HER TO GO BLIND AT THE AGE OF 13. SHE TOOK UP TIBETAN STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY, AND IS CURRENTLY RUNNING A SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND IN LHASA. IN 2000, SHE RECEIVED THE NORGALL PRIZE OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN`S CLUB. EDITORIAL REVIEWS WHEN TENBERKEN, WHOSE BATTLE WITH RETINAL DISEASE LEFT HER BLIND AT AGE 13, WAS IN HER 20S, SHE STUDIED TIBETAN CULTURE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BONN. FRUSTRATED BY THE AWKWARD CHARACTER-RECOGNITION MACHINERY SHE HAD TO USE TO READ TIBETAN MATERIALS, SHE DEVISED A TIBETAN BRAILLE ALPHABET, SO THAT ONCE TRANSLATED, WORKS COULD BE DIRECTLY READABLE BY THE BLIND. WHAT FOLLOWED SEEMED NATURAL TO HER: SHE`D GO TO TIBET AND START A SCHOOL TO TEACH THIS BRAILLE TO BLIND TIBETAN CHILDREN. TRAVELING ON HORSEBACK OVER TREACHEROUS MOUNTAIN PASSES, SLEEPING IN RAT-INFESTED HUTS AND DEALING WITH SELF-INTERESTED CHARITABLE BUREAUCRACIES, TENBERKEN MANAGED TO KEEP HER HUMOR AND COURAGE. SHE SUCCEEDED IN ESTABLISHING A SCHOOL, AND HER ORGANIZATION, "BRAILLE WITHOUT BORDERS" CONTINUES THE LITERACY MISSION IN OTHER COUNTRIES.
लहानपणी दृष्टिपटलाला झालेल्या आजारामुळे सॅब्रिए टेनबर्केन अंध होते, मात्र स्वत:ला वचन देते की, ‘आपले अंधत्व कधीही अपंगत्व ठरणार नाही, किंबहुना आपण तसे घडू द्यायचे नाही!’
चिनी आणि आशियाई संस्कृतीचा अभ्यास करत असताना तिबेटमधील अंध मुलांची दारुण स्थिती सॅब्रिएला समजल्यावर तिला धक्काच बसतो! ती निर्णय घेते – नाकारलेल्या, धिक्कारलेल्या आणि हीन दर्जाची वागणूक मिळणा-या तिबेटमधल्या अंध मुलांना मदत करण्याचा!
निष्ठा आणि निर्धार एवढ्याच पुंजीवर ती एकहाती तिबेटी भाषेत ब्रेल बाराखडी तयार करते... अगदी मोजक्या मुलांसह ल्हासात अंधांसाठी पहिली शाळा उघडते... अर्थातच तिला यासाठी असंख्य समस्यांवर धैर्याने मात करावी लागते... आणि एका छोट्या प्रयत्नापासून सुरू झालेल्या या प्रयोगरूपी बीजाचे सर्व वयोगटातील अंधांसाठी काम करणा-या एका भव्य संस्थारूपी वटवृक्षात रूपांतर होते....
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