School for the Blind, Lhasa, Tibet

In the fall of 2003 Susan Stephenson of the Michael Olaf Montessori Company, following the path of the Tibetan refugee children between Lhasa, Tibet (China) and Kathmandu, visited the School for the Blind that was founded by, and is headed by Sabriye Tenberken, an amazing blind woman from Germany.Susan was first introduced to this program by an article her husband found in the New York Times, and then read Sabriya's book "My Path Leads to Tibet." During her visit she was shown around the school by Kyla, a blind girl who grew up in a small village learning nothing until her grandmother brought her to the school at age 14. By age 17 Kyla, had learned to read and write English, Chinese, and Tibetan, cook, do professional massage, and had written a play on an environmental theme, the link to which you can find below. At the time of Susan's visit she was planning to move into an apartment with a blind friend and start a restaurant.


The picture at the right shows some of the blind students in front of the Potala Palace (where Susan celebrated her 60th birthday)


Braille without Borders:
home page

Susan’s emails home to friends and family,
From Tibet, 2003.
Tibet2003

Donation information for people in Germany, the USA, Tibet, and the Netherlands
donations

This webpage is a result of Susan's communication with Sabriye and her Dutch partner, Paul Kronenberg about how to spread the work and engage others in the work.
To see some of the oil paintings from her trips, go to: artasia2005