We are happy to present Kanthari’s first audio newsletter – Hot-Bite.
In this episode, we’ve discoverd five types of kantharis who would fit perfectly in our seven month training program.
Red: Advocates
Green: Initiators
Yellow: Inventors
Ivory: Entrepreneurs
Purple: Artists
Listen and see if you, or someone you know would be suitable for our course.
Report on summercamp 2011, a protest to save Mount Sahya, and an audio CV from Tahreer from Palestine.
IISE Audio Newsletter June 2011 by IISE
The Spectacle is the IISE’s monthly audio newsletter. It is recorded and produced by the audio specialist group of this year’s participants Vygas, Lukette, Anja and Nelson, with the assistance of our consultant catalyst David Sexton and IISE Co-Founder Sabriye Tenberken.
Unique camp for children with multi-sensory disability (CREST), children of sex workers (Chilla) and their parents By Yentha
On Jun 18, 2011
Trivandrum: The International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE), Vellayani, organised a summer camp for children with multi-sensory disability (CREST) and children of sex workers (Chilla) and their parents on June 18th from 10 am to 4pm.
Owing to the great success of the camp conducted for children of CREST last year, this year, the participants of IISE organised a joint camp for the kids from the two organisations. Several programmes were organised as part of the summer camp to foster the bonding between the kids from both groups.
Three main committees were formed, one for parents, one for children and an activity committee, each guided by the participants of IISE. The camp started off with an ice-breaking session, held separately for children and parents. Mothers were also involved in the game sessions. Several games were organised for the kids and discussions were held on issues related to teenage children. The kids were taken for a boat ride in the Vellayani Lake.
The programme ended with a drama by the children of Chilla. The camp was organised to enhance the bonding between children and their mothers and to facilitate interaction between abled children and disabled children through a lighter ‘Fun Therapy’.
The IISE is an institution that trains people from different countries who have overcome an adversity in their life and want to bring about a social change. It gives the participants the training necessary to set up their social project. Sabriye Tenkerben along with Paul Kronenberg, who runs the ‘Braille Without Borders’ initiative for blind children in Tibet is the founder of IISE.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, member of Parliament, visited the 2010 IISE graduates
today (11th December, 2010) at the IISE campus in Vellayani.
Dr. Tharoor seemed to be enthralled with IISE’s vision and mission. Though he had planned to speak about his experience in a project related with slums in Africa, he changed his speech when he realised the magnitude of adversities each of the ambitious IISE graduates already have faced before coming to India.
Survival of and conquering adversity was the main motivation for the graduates to chose to start their own social projects. To learn how to go about this, they joined the 11 months training program at the IISE.
Dr Tharoor seemed to be happily surprised about the vision and deeds of Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg (the founders of Braille Without Borders and the IISE) and their 12 years of experience running a preparatory school and vocational training centre for theblind in Tibet. He also complimented the Eco friendly approach of design and renewable energy techniques used at the IISE such as wind mills, solar energy utilisation, bio gas systems, grey water treatment, rain water harvesting etc.
He had a look at the Mobile Blind Training centre. An inititive of Braille Without Borders and Vidya Vriksha with the goal to reach out to blind children in rural areas in order to provide them with Universal Braille Kits which will enable them to learn Braille before integration in schools.
This year 28 participants from 18 countries (like Pakistan, China, Poland, Ethiopia, Kenya,Mongolia, India etc) graduated on 13th November 2010. There are a few more seats left for 2011 and highly talented, committed potential candidates from India and Nepal can still apply online.
For more information about the IISE, please visit the about section of our website.
Ajith Kumar
Administrative Manager
International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs
Mobile: +91-9946051287
Email: ajith@iiseconnect.org
This article originally appeared in the Times of India, on the 20th of November, 2010.
Sabriye Tenberken at Vellayani’s International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) assists those who have endured severe traumas, like war and disability, to help themselves and others.
By the river Vellayani, 26 people tell their stories. Born in Sierra Leone, Kaprie Kanu was caught by rebel warriors to join the ranks of child soldiers. Born an Albino, Judith Jandi was attacked by witchdoctors in Kenya, trying to kill her as body parts of people without skin pigmentation were considered lucky charms. Kanu, Jandi and other survivors share stories and lessons at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) in Vellayani, a village within Thiruvanathapuram. They draw inspiration from the Institute’s founder, Sabriye Tenberken, a 40-year-old German woman, spreading light despite her own world going dark years ago.
Tenberken was born to artistes in Cologne. In her 12th year, she lost her eyesight after ocular degeneration. The experience was hard but Tenberken coped. “Life actually became more colourful because I could imagine things. It’s like reading a book and seeing the film afterwards. You can be disappointed because your own imagination was more beautiful. I grew more appreciative of life. ” Some suffering came from the outside world. “I lost friends. They didn’t want to play with me anymore. Teachers didn’t take me seriously. They thought if somebody is blind, they are also not right in the head.”
Her parents shifted her to an extraordinary school. “We were taught not just academics but sports like kayaking, skiing and riding. Our teachers would say, learn the technique and then the world is open. ” Instilled with new confidence, Tenberken wanted to travel on graduating. “I had to leave Germany. People there had rigid opinions about what the blind could do, ” she recounts. “To be able to get anywhere though, I needed to study languages. I looked for an adventurous place. I thought of Tibet and began studying Tibetology at Bonn University. While studying, I developed Braille for the native language. I created it for myself but a Tibetan scholar asked me to offer it to the blind in Tibet as they had no such tool.”
In 1997, Tenberken traveled to Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) alone. She says, “I wanted to convince people I could do things for them. ” There was much to be done. In TAR, she found a significant incidence of blindness caused by the UV content of the high altitude area and soot from burning yak dung which settled onto the cornea. There was little scientific understanding. Instead, Tenberken came across blind children hidden away in their homes, even tied to beds, as parents thought their affliction resulted from ‘bad karma’.
That’s when she decided to do something about it. “I wanted to start a school, teaching these children not only the skills of life but also how to accept blindness without being ashamed. They should think, I may be blind but I can do things even those who can see can’t. For instance, the blind can read and write in the dark, ” she points out. Traveling to Germany, she raised funds from donors. Back in Tibet, finding love in Paul Kronenberg, a Dutch backpacker, the duo established Braille Without Borders (BWB), an international organisation for TAR’s people. Kronenberg quit his engineering job to stay with Tenberken. Eventually, the couple decided to move to Kerala to set up an institution for the global community. A quaint locale on the banks of the Vellayani provided the setting and the IISE was created in 2009. Aided by donors, its programes involve ‘participants’ and ‘catalysts’. The former have tackled challenges from physical disabilities to social discrimination. The latter instruct on varied topics and range from Patrick Headon, former director, Ebay Europe, Iinternational photographer Rick Guidotti and US author Rosemary Mahoney. The duo’s efforts are widely recognised. In 2003, the couple was knighted by the Dutch queen. In 2005, Tenberken was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Today, Tenberken finds not many IISE participants hail from its host country, India. “We want 50 per cent seats for locals but very few come forth, ” says Janice Oommen, Institute coordinator. Mohammed Wasim of Bangalore, one of the few blind participants from India, attributes this to low motivation and the difficulty of handling communication in English. Tenberken is unbeaten though. The IISE is increasing local involvement through environmental and educational projects. It offers English classes and a library for local children. A Universal Mobile School and a Hybrid Power Project will be launched. “The stress is also on street kids and labourers’ children, ” Oommen explains.
Award-winning writer Chandramati, who lives near IISE, says, “The Institute is attempting good things for the community. ” Alongside, Tenberken is delighted that IISE’s participants are making their dreams positive realities. Pynhoi from Meghalaya, for instance, is creating an intervention centre for children and the aged with disabilities. Jane from Kenya runs a project against Albino killings. Sahr from Sierra Leone has started a social venture already re-uniting 20 ex-combatants with their families. These people were forced to join rebel ranks as child soldiers. Their families had lost hope of ever getting them back.
Many would call Tenberken ‘visually impaired’. She responds gently but firmly, “I’m blind. Not visually impaired. Initially, even I didn’t like to call myself ‘blind’. But later, I realised this was like a magic word. It explains things easily. Nothing else is wrong with me, just that I don’t see. “But she has the power to show others the light within them, even inspiring them to spread it.
Sabriye Tenberken at Vellayani’s International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) assists those who have endured severe traumas, like war and disability, to help themselves and others.
By the river Vellayani, 26 people tell their stories. Born in Sierra Leone, Kaprie Kanu was caught by rebel warriors to join the ranks of child soldiers. Born an Albino, Judith Jandi was attacked by witchdoctors in Kenya, trying to kill her as body parts of people without skin pigmentation were considered lucky charms. Kanu, Jandi and other survivors share stories and lessons at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) in Vellayani, a village within Thiruvanathapuram. They draw inspiration from the Institute’s founder, Sabriye Tenberken, a 40-year-old German woman, spreading light despite her own world going dark years ago.
Tenberken was born to artistes in Cologne. In her 12th year, she lost her eyesight after ocular degeneration. The experience was hard but Tenberken coped. “Life actually became more colourful because I could imagine things. It’s like reading a book and seeing the film afterwards. You can be disappointed because your own imagination was more beautiful. I grew more appreciative of life. ” Some suffering came from the outside world. “I lost friends. They didn’t want to play with me anymore. Teachers didn’t take me seriously. They thought if somebody is blind, they are also not right in the head.”
Her parents shifted her to an extraordinary school. “We were taught not just academics but sports like kayaking, skiing and riding. Our teachers would say, learn the technique and then the world is open. ” Instilled with new confidence, Tenberken wanted to travel on graduating. “I had to leave Germany. People there had rigid opinions about what the blind could do, ” she recounts. “To be able to get anywhere though, I needed to study languages. I looked for an adventurous place. I thought of Tibet and began studying Tibetology at Bonn University. While studying, I developed Braille for the native language. I created it for myself but a Tibetan scholar asked me to offer it to the blind in Tibet as they had no such tool.”
In 1997, Tenberken traveled to Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) alone. She says, “I wanted to convince people I could do things for them. ” There was much to be done. In TAR, she found a significant incidence of blindness caused by the UV content of the high altitude area and soot from burning yak dung which settled onto the cornea. There was little scientific understanding. Instead, Tenberken came across blind children hidden away in their homes, even tied to beds, as parents thought their affliction resulted from ‘bad karma’.
That’s when she decided to do something about it. “I wanted to start a school, teaching these children not only the skills of life but also how to accept blindness without being ashamed. They should think, I may be blind but I can do things even those who can see can’t. For instance, the blind can read and write in the dark, ” she points out. Traveling to Germany, she raised funds from donors. Back in Tibet, finding love in Paul Kronenberg, a Dutch backpacker, the duo established Braille Without Borders (BWB), an international organisation for TAR’s people. Kronenberg quit his engineering job to stay with Tenberken. Eventually, the couple decided to move to Kerala to set up an institution for the global community. A quaint locale on the banks of the Vellayani provided the setting and the IISE was created in 2009.
Aided by donors, its programes involve ‘participants’ and ‘catalysts’. The former have tackled challenges from physical disabilities to social discrimination. The latter instruct on varied topics and range from Patrick Headon, former director, Ebay Europe, Iinternational photographer Rick Guidotti and US author Rosemary Mahoney. The duo’s efforts are widely recognised. In 2003, the couple was knighted by the Dutch queen. In 2005, Tenberken was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Today, Tenberken finds not many IISE participants hail from its host country, India. “We want 50 per cent seats for locals but very few come forth, ” says Janice Oommen, Institute coordinator. Mohammed Wasim of Bangalore, one of the few blind participants from India, attributes this to low motivation and the difficulty of handling communication in English. Tenberken is unbeaten though. The IISE is increasing local involvement through environmental and educational projects. It offers English classes and a library for local children. A Universal Mobile School and a Hybrid Power Project will be launched. “The stress is also on street kids and labourers’ children, ” Oommen explains.
Award-winning writer Chandramati, who lives near IISE, says, “The Institute is attempting good things for the community. ” Alongside, Tenberken is delighted that IISE’s participants are making their dreams positive realities. Pynhoi from Meghalaya, for instance, is creating an intervention centre for children and the aged with disabilities. Jane from Kenya runs a project against Albino killings. Sahr from Sierra Leone has started a social venture already re-uniting 20 ex-combatants with their families. These people were forced to join rebel ranks as child soldiers. Their families had lost hope of ever getting them back.
Many would call Tenberken ‘visually impaired’. She responds gently but firmly, “I’m blind. Not visually impaired. Initially, even I didn’t like to call myself ‘blind’. But later, I realised this was like a magic word. It explains things easily. Nothing else is wrong with me, just that I don’t see. “But she has the power to show others the light within them, even inspiring them to spread it.
This article originally appeared in Yentha, on the 14th of November, 2010.
The graduation ceremony of the second batch of the students at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) was held here today. IISE, an institution that helps its students set up social projects that improve the quality of blind, visually impaired people and marginalised target groups had 28 students graduating this year.
A fair share of the students, brimming with ambition, was blind or visually impaired. The IISE operates under the Braille without Borders Charitable Trust (BWB), co-founded by Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg.
The function was presided over by Binoy Vishwam, Minsiter of Forest, Wild Life Protection and Housing. The certificates were given away by the minister, and the students were awarded the sashes by Sabriye and Paul, the directors of the institute.
Speaking at the occasion, Binoy Vishwam wished all the students a bright future and expressed hope that they would come up with innovative ideas to make the world a better place. “Countries have barriers, geography has barriers, not humans and humanity,” he added.
Paul Kronenberg, during his address, reminded the students that the coming five weeks would be the most difficult part in setting up their projects, owing to the effort required in setting up the required funds. “You will need to exhibit the same amount of passion, ambition and determination that was shown during your time at IISE, throughout your life,” He also extended his whole hearted thankfulness to all the people who were associated with IISE.
Sabriye Tenberken gave assurance to the students that IISE will always be there to “rattle” them up and support them. “More importantly, you have to be there to help out each other,” she said.
She also announced a possibility to apply for a ‘Macro-credit” of 2,500 Euros to all the students to assist them in setting up their projects.
An award distribution ceremony for the best students of the year was also held. The Anandi Ramachandran Award for the Best Overall project was shared by Pamela Namubuya Sabwami of Kenya and Daniel Esih Chiambah of Cameroon. The former submitted a project – Mwangaza Preparatory Centre (MPC), which would be a preparatory school for the blind to be set up in Kibera slums of Nairobi. Daniel wishes to initiate the Enabling Platform for Impaired People (EPIP), which aims at establishing a Braille printing press for the production of curriculum text books for blind students in primary and secondary schools in Cameroon.
Kaprie Kanu of Sierra Leone and Deginet Wotengo Doyiso of Ethiopia won the awards for Best Solidarity and Best Performance respectively.
The launch of the newly designed website of IISE and the inauguration of the IISE’s Wind-Solar Hybrid Pilot project were also done on the occasion. A Solar Powered Mobile Blind School was also flagged off by Krishna Swamy IPS of Vidya Vrikshah, as a part of the function.
The students, who were excited with the future that lay ahead of them, were seen in boundless bundles of jubilation and some were spotted breaking down into tears of joy during the ceremony. “The time at IISE was and will forever be the best part of my life,” said Daniel Chiambah.
The IISE still has some open places for 2011 for potential participants from India and Nepal. Application form can be found on the website.