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| Annual overview
2005
by Paul Kronenberg |
Dear all,
2005 was a very eventful year for BWB.
Here in short is an overview:
Januar 2005: Kerala, Indien
Jan 2005: Kerala, India. Over 50 plots of land were visited
before the choice was made to fix the location where the future
international training centre will arise. This location is based in
Kalliyoor on the Vellayani
lakeside about 10 km from Trivandrum, the political capital of Kerala.
A
charity Trust too was set up at this time. More
info
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Feb 2005: Europe. During a three week visit in Europe
several fundraising activities were carried out and some family and
friends were visited.
March 2005: USA
In New York Sabriye received the Luce Hadley award for courage. In
Golden, Colorado, we visited Erik Weihenmayer and the other members of
the Everest ‘Climbing Blind’ team. In San Francisco we worked on some
fundraising activities.
April 2005: Tibet.
In Lhasa, five of our students opened their own medical massage and
physiotherapy clinic.
Five new students are being trained in this clinic as well. Several
new students were taken into the project. Renovation and construction
activities on the farm vocational training center, which started in
2004, continued.
May 2005: China/Europe
In the beginning of May we presented the BWB project to the Young
Presidents Organization in Beijing. Sabriye continued on to Europe and
I returned to Lhasa.
June 2005: India
In the beginning of June we met up in Delhi from where we flew to Leh,
Ladakh. There we had a meeting with local government people who
want to provide a piece of land for a local BWB training centre for the
blind. Right after that we went to Kerala again. There we started to
work on the preparation for construction activities and obtained
another piece of land about 50 metres away from the first plot. On the
main plot the following buildings will be built:
Dormitory building, multifunctional dining hall with kitchen, school
building. The second piece of land will hold the offices and staff
quarters. We also had several meetings with politicians and other NGO's.
July 2005: Tibet
In the summer the construction of the cheese-factory, the
greenhouses, renovation of kitchen, dining hall,
dormitories and the classrooms were finished and the first students
were welcomed. They can choose to be trained in agriculture, animal
husbandry, market gardening, compost making, carpet weaving, knitting
etc. Five of our Lhasa students are now studying in a regular
government elementary school in Pelshong, directly next to the farm.
August 2005: Beijing
We were guests on a talk show for CCTV 9 in Beijing and also worked
on some fundraising activities. Right after we enjoyed our first 2 week
holiday in over two years.
September 2005: Lhasa
A Dutch cheese maker, Marinus Post, came to Shigatse
to train two people in cheese making. Since then our cheese
factory has been producing "Tibetino" and "Lhasarella" cheese and
yogurt.
Over the summer several wells were dug out and a large water reservoir
was built in order to make sure water is available at all times. The
farm now houses a small but growing contingent of animals: 2 yaks, 5
cows, 5 horses, 2 pigs,3 ducks, 12 hens, 10 roosters and a dog.
A German agriculture specialist, Dr. Wilfried Schaefer worked in the
farm in the spring and in the autumn. Through careful planning and hard
work of the local staff several crops were planted on the farm which
were new for Tibet: fodder and sugar beets, winter rye, triticale and
many flowers and vegetables. In 2005 we will work on agreements with
restaurants and hotels in Shigatse and Lhasa so a regular market for
our products can be created.
The large original army theatre hall was renovated into a riding/sports
hall. A start was made on the construction of a compost factory. Two of
our students, Kyila and Nyima Wangdu started a one year study of
English
at the School of English in Totnes.
At the end of September we received an invitation from the German
government to attend an award ceremony.
October 2005: Germany / USA / Tibet
We were invited to come to Berlin where Sabriye received the Bundes
Verdienstkreuz from the German president Dr. H. Koehler. We were
supposed
to return to Lhasa a few days after but instead we flew to the US where
Sabriye was invited to be a guest on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. Since
many
people worldwide see this show we had hoped that it would help our
fundraising
activities as well. Unfortunately Oprah didn't mention that BWB's work
depends
on donations. Via Tokyo, Guangzhou and Shangri La we we returned to
Lhasa
to prepare everything for the coming winter.
A solar system to store and direct heat into the dormitories was
designed and built. During the day the sun heats up the air
behind the dormitory and the system was built in such way that the hot
air is forced to circulate inside the buildings. The dorms and knitting
and weaving classes there, are now warm and pleasant.
November 2005: India
Again we headed to India. In Chennai we met two very interesting people
who set up a project which provides Braille in several languages. Right
after we returned to Kerala again where we finalized the designs of the
planned buildings. Several meetings with politicians and other people
who
are needed to realize the centre, followed. We rented a
house
to have a base during the period of construction which will take about
one
and a half years. The buildings will be built in an eco friendly style
using
special mud-clay material suited to the hot humid climate and at the
same
time, withstand the torrential monsoons.
December 2005: Germany
On the 5th of December Sabriye and I were honoured with the national
Fundraising award. The ceremony took place in Berlin. The prize was
given because the project raises funds by itself emphasizing the
strengths and motivation of blind people rather than appealing to
donors’ pity. We want people to give, not because they feel sorry for
the "poor blind children" but because they see and believe in the
potential of these children.
During December we worked on several fundraising activities. Nyima and
Kyila spent December with us at Sabriye’s parents’ house in Germany.
Sabriye began work on a new book:
"Das siebte Jahr - Von Tibet nach Indien"
(The seventh year - From Tibet to India"
ISBN: 3-462-03691-2
Publisher: Kiepenheuer & Witsch
It will most likely be published in May 2006.
We hope that an English version will be available later in 2006 or
early 2007.
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Since the start of the Braille Without Borders project
in 1998,
thanks to a very well motivated and hard working staff, a total of 82
blind
students have been and are being trained. In the coming years we hope
to
welcome many more since the farm is now fully operational as well. and
We noticed one important item which we would like to share with you.
Because the project received lots of media attention as well as some
awards, most people believe that funds are not a problem anymore.
However, unfortunately, publicity and awards don't automatically come
with funding. We still have to spend a lot of energy and work on this.
Therefore we would like to say "thank you very much" to all the people
who believed in and supported the philosophy of Braille Without
Borders. Only because of your support were we able to realize our
initial vision. In the future we hope to raise enough funds to realize
new plans and to sustain what has been achieved.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Kronenberg
PS also from Sabriye Tenberken
More Information www.braillewithoutborders.org
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