In 1920, Congress passed and ratified the 19th Amendment — guaranteeing all American women the right to vote. Now 100 years later, not only can they vote, women are CEOs, Senators, Congresspersons, stay at home moms, working moms, artists, writers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, inventors, scientists, mathematicians, and so much more.
To celebrate these past 100 years of progress, Women’s National Book Association-NYC will highlight one Kickass Woman a month.
Sabriye Tenberken
January is Braille Literacy Month and in honor of that we are highlighting Sabriye Tenberken. Born in Cologne, Germany in 1970 — Tenberken lost her sight to retinal disease at the age of twelve. Tenberken is not only the founder of the first school for the blind in Tibet, but she also developed the Tibetan Braille script.
In an interview in the August 2005 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, she said, “Not accepting that I was blind was miserable. I was constantly compensating and pretending. Not until I accepted my blindness did I begin to live.”
In college at Bonn University, Tenberken studied Central Asian Sciences with a specialization in Mongolian, modern Chinese, and modern and classical Tibetan, in combination with sociology and philosophy. But learning about Tibet was hard because there were no Tibetan texts available in Braille. She had to create her own. She started by creating a Tibetan to German then German to Tibetan dictionary. With that dictionary, she devised a software system that transposed entire Tibetan texts into braille.
She told Oprah Magazine, “I developed this system for my own use but when I realized that blind people in Tibet could also benefit from it, I got the idea to bring it to Tibet and start a school.” However, starting a school was not easy. In the high-altitude region of Tibet, sun exposure contributes to unusually high rates of eye disease. But, the Tibetan people believe that blindness is a form of punishment for you previous life’s sin. Tenberken had to face these prejudices to start her school.
With the help of her partner Paul Kronenberg, she founded the Centre for the Blind. Later, they set up the Braille Without Borders foundation.
“Braille Without Borders wants to literate blind people with the use of the Braille script so they get access to literature and so get access to knowledge.” The foundation teaches children and adults learn to speak, read, and write in three languages (Tibetan, English, Chinese). Vocational training is also available.
In 2010, Tenberken was chosen as one of China’s 15 most influential overseas experts over the past 30 years. You can learn more about her Tibetan journey in her book, My Path Leads to Tibet.
Want to hear from more amazing women? Check out the authors from our Debut Fiction Panel!
Have any women that you want to tell us about? Post in the comments below!
