Sabriye Tenberken
Sabriye Tenberken, Co-founder and Director, IISE was born at Cologne, Germany in 1970. At age 12, she became blind. She studied Central Asian Sciences at Bonn University. In addition to Mongolian and modern Chinese, she studied modern and classical Tibetan in combination with sociology and philosophy. As no blind student had ever before ventured to enroll in these kind of studies, she could not fall back on the experiences of anyone else – and had to develop her own methods in order to follow her course of studies.
Out of this need, Sabriye developed the Tibetan Braille Script. Sabriye initiated the project for the blind in Tibet and is the co-founder and co-director of Braille Without Borders. Next to fundraising and communication with official and sponsor organizations she is responsible for the development of the curricula and training of teachers and trainers.
Sabriye is also the author of three books: ”My path leads to Tibet” tells the history of the project and about the way Sabriye dealt with becoming blind. The book has been published in 12 languages (English version: Arcade Publishing house, New York). She wrote “Tashis neue Welt” and the latest book is titled “Das siebte Jahr” (“The seventh year”) which tells the story of Sabriye’s and Paul’s seventh year in Tibet.
Paul Kronenberg
Paul was born in Venray, Netherlands in 1968. He has a technical background and graduated in the following studies: mechanical engineering, computer science, commercial technology and communication system science. During his studies, Paul gained practical experience while working for different organizations in development projects in Africa, Eastern Europe and Tibet. Together with Sabriye Tenberken, Paul co-founded Braille Without Borders. Paul is responsible for all technical and maintenance aspects in the project. He trains staff in bookkeeping, office work and the use of computers. In addition to communication and fundraising, Paul is responsible for the designs of the buildings and supervises all construction activities within the project.