My Path Leads to Tibet: The Inspiring Story of how One Young Blind Woman Brought Hope to the Blind Children of Tibet Book

Defying everyone's advice, armed only with her rudimentary knowledge of Chinese and Tibetan, Sabriye Tenberken 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. Traveling 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 Tenberken 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.

Publishers Weekly

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. While stories of triumph over adversity are often compelling, Tenberken gives something more: her own point of view on life as a blind person. Why does she go out of her way to visit stunning landscapes? Why are colors meaningful to her? "I consider myself a very visual person," Tenberken explains, aware that not all blind people-or "sighted" people, for that matter-have "visual imaginations." "Besides, why wouldn't a world informed and described by one's imagination be better than reality?" Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.) Forecast: Readers looking for a good travel yarn or an old-fashioned story of bravery conquering all obstacles, as well as those interested in disability issues, will love Tenberken's saga. With the major promo tour Arcade plans, it could be popular, despite the clunky title. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.