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Sabriye Tenberken
Sabriye Tenberken
Coming from the margins of society, Sabriye Tenberken developed an intrinsic interest to create ethical social change. She studied Tibetology/ Central Asian Sciences at Bonn University. Traveling on horseback through the Himalayas she discovered that Tibetans who in majority are Buddhists have a stigma against people with disabilities. Especially blindness is seen as a punishment for actions one has done in his/her previous life. Accordingly blind children are often neglected, locked away in dark rooms or sent to the streets to beg for money.
Experiencing this situation inspired Sabriye to start the first school for the blind in Tibet. In 1998, together with Paul Kronenberg whom she met in Tibet, she founded Braille Without Borders, an organization that empowers blind people to take their lives in their own hands. In 2005 she and Paul founded Kanthari, the International Institute for leadership in Kerala, South of India. Kanthari fosters participants from all over the world, who, like Sabriye, have a passion to start and run impact making organisations/ventures. Sabriye is the driving force behind the academic program. Next to being a public speaker, Sabriye is the author of My path leads to Tibet a bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages. Shw also wrote „Das siebte Jahr“ and “Die Traumwerkstatt von Kerala, die Welt veraendern, das kann man lernen”. She also starred in the award-winning documentary ‘BLINDSIGHT’. Sabriye Tenberken became fully blind at age 12.
