31 min
Episode 111: Sabriye Tenberken & Paul Kronenberg: Intrinsic and Ethical Social Change Global Nomad Hacks
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- Places & Travel
Dr. Heidi talks with Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg, founders/directors of Braille Without Borders and Kanthari.
SabriyeTenberken (German): Knowing what it is to be marginalized, she developed an intrinsic interest to create ethical social change. She studied Tibetology / Central Asian Sciences at Bonn University and to be able to take notes in Tibetan, she developed the Tibetan Braille Script. Traveling on horseback through the Himalayas in 1997, she discovered that Tibetans who in majority are Buddhists have a stigma against people with disabilities. Especially blindness is seen as a punishment for something you have done in your previous life. Accordingly blind children are often neglected, locked away in dark rooms or sent to the streets to beg for money. Experiencing this situation inspired her to take action.
in 1998, together with Paul, she started the first school for the blind in Tibet. This school formed the foundation of Braille Without Borders, an organization that empowers blind people to take their lives in their own hands. In 2005, they founded Kanthari in Kerala, South of India. Kanthari fosters participants from all over the world, who have a passion to make the world a better place and have the strength to be forces of good rather than victims of circumstance. In the daily activities, she mainly focuses on (the development of) the academic program.
Next to being a public speaker, She is the author of “My path leads to Tibet”, a book that has been translated into 16 languages. She and Paul also had the honor to take a part in the award winning documentaries ‘BLINDSIGHT’ and ‘KANTHARI – change from within”.
She became fully blind at age 12.
Paul Kronenberg (Dutch): – A leader is someone who uses his/her talents to lead the way in creating a better and more ethical tomorrow, EVERY DAY! –
He is a “Social-Changineer”. With a technical background graduating in mechanical engineering, computer science, commercial technology and data-communication system science, he focuses on the running and operational management of Kanthari.
He is passionate about eco-friendly and cost effective “open hardware” technology and architecture. He is always on the lookout for answers that will help to build a better tomorrow; be it physical in terms of technical solutions, or be it mental, strengthening myself and the self of others.
Together with Sabriye, we started Kanthari. They offer a unique “Journey in five acts” Curriculum; an intense experiential and hand’s on learning experience we provide social change makers with all necessary tools to start, run and sustain own NGO’s.
In public talks, he likes to address questions like “why?” and “why not?”, and he favors the use of wit and humor to mirror the true shape of the world that makes one think and reflect about what can/must be done differently to become part of solutions.
My motto is simple: Life is what you are happy getting up for. And if you are not happy, then there is only one person that can do something about it, and that is… you.
In his life he learnt that whenever if ‘I have to’ becomes ‘I want to’, that is where the magic begins!
You are responsible for what you chose to do, but you are also responsible for what you chose NOT to do…
And that, in his opinion is where there is a huge opportunity to develop solutions to address many of the social issues we face today.
More details on: https://www.kanthari.org/about-us/founders
Website: www.kanthari.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kantharis
Twitter ID: https://twitter.com/Kantharis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kantharis
Sabriye Tenberken - My Path leads to Tibet
https://www.amazon.com/My-Path-Leads-Tibet-Inspiring/dp/1611458897
The documentary kanthari - change from within:
KANTHARI – CHANGE from WITHIN tells the stories of leaders who have been affected by social ill and because of that, took it up to start ini
Dr. Heidi talks with Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg, founders/directors of Braille Without Borders and Kanthari.
SabriyeTenberken (German): Knowing what it is to be marginalized, she developed an intrinsic interest to create ethical social change. She studied Tibetology / Central Asian Sciences at Bonn University and to be able to take notes in Tibetan, she developed the Tibetan Braille Script. Traveling on horseback through the Himalayas in 1997, she discovered that Tibetans who in majority are Buddhists have a stigma against people with disabilities. Especially blindness is seen as a punishment for something you have done in your previous life. Accordingly blind children are often neglected, locked away in dark rooms or sent to the streets to beg for money. Experiencing this situation inspired her to take action.
in 1998, together with Paul, she started the first school for the blind in Tibet. This school formed the foundation of Braille Without Borders, an organization that empowers blind people to take their lives in their own hands. In 2005, they founded Kanthari in Kerala, South of India. Kanthari fosters participants from all over the world, who have a passion to make the world a better place and have the strength to be forces of good rather than victims of circumstance. In the daily activities, she mainly focuses on (the development of) the academic program.
Next to being a public speaker, She is the author of “My path leads to Tibet”, a book that has been translated into 16 languages. She and Paul also had the honor to take a part in the award winning documentaries ‘BLINDSIGHT’ and ‘KANTHARI – change from within”.
She became fully blind at age 12.
Paul Kronenberg (Dutch): – A leader is someone who uses his/her talents to lead the way in creating a better and more ethical tomorrow, EVERY DAY! –
He is a “Social-Changineer”. With a technical background graduating in mechanical engineering, computer science, commercial technology and data-communication system science, he focuses on the running and operational management of Kanthari.
He is passionate about eco-friendly and cost effective “open hardware” technology and architecture. He is always on the lookout for answers that will help to build a better tomorrow; be it physical in terms of technical solutions, or be it mental, strengthening myself and the self of others.
Together with Sabriye, we started Kanthari. They offer a unique “Journey in five acts” Curriculum; an intense experiential and hand’s on learning experience we provide social change makers with all necessary tools to start, run and sustain own NGO’s.
In public talks, he likes to address questions like “why?” and “why not?”, and he favors the use of wit and humor to mirror the true shape of the world that makes one think and reflect about what can/must be done differently to become part of solutions.
My motto is simple: Life is what you are happy getting up for. And if you are not happy, then there is only one person that can do something about it, and that is… you.
In his life he learnt that whenever if ‘I have to’ becomes ‘I want to’, that is where the magic begins!
You are responsible for what you chose to do, but you are also responsible for what you chose NOT to do…
And that, in his opinion is where there is a huge opportunity to develop solutions to address many of the social issues we face today.
More details on: https://www.kanthari.org/about-us/founders
Website: www.kanthari.org
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kantharis
Twitter ID: https://twitter.com/Kantharis
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kantharis
Sabriye Tenberken - My Path leads to Tibet
https://www.amazon.com/My-Path-Leads-Tibet-Inspiring/dp/1611458897
The documentary kanthari - change from within:
KANTHARI – CHANGE from WITHIN tells the stories of leaders who have been affected by social ill and because of that, took it up to start ini
31 min