Beautiful, isn't it?

Here is an invitation that will transform your life.
Take a trip to Trivandrum and from there, to the beautiful shores of the Vellayani lake. If you walk there, along the verdant shores of the lake where beautiful lotus flowers sway in the blue waters, you will come across  an extraordinary group of people. You will find twenty five of them from countries like Colombia, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Nepal, Norway, Philippines, Saudi Arabia and Sierra Leone.  Look closely and you will realize that some of them are blind. And others are partially sighted. And yet, they all share one vision: To make the world a better place for blind people and for sighted people like you and me.

Their journey begins at the IISE Campus at Vellayani. The International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) is a realization of Sabriye Tenberken (a blind young German woman) and Paul Kronenberg (A Dutch Engineer) who set up Braille without Borders, an international organization to help the blind at Lhasa, Tibet in 1998. It is today recognized as a pioneering model to educate blind and partially sighted children. At Vellayani, Braille without Borders continues its mission through IISE. It helps blind and partially sighted people to make a positive change in their country, society or surrounding. The Braille without Borders website asks the question: Do you need Vision to be a Visionary? My experience at Vellayani inspired me to write this original version of this article for the New Indian Express in Trivandrum. The pictures you see, in order, are The IISE Vellayani Campus, Sabriye with her Team, and the Incredible View from the Campus. 

Over the next year, the group at Vellayani will make a journey—with IISE team—learning to set up small businesses and transform lives within their communities. They will be trained in management, accounting, computer technology, English, communication and soft skills. They will learn to stand up for their rights, to negotiate with government leaders and to change the attitudes towards blind people in their own countries.

For Sabriye Tenberken, who lost her sight at the age of 12, there was always the dream to lead an extraordinary life--and make the world a better place.  And she began with Tibet—thousands of kilometers away from her hometown of Cologne in Germany. Would you swim, ride a horse, learn Tibetan, open a school, write a book, use a laptop, climb to the Base Camp of Mount Everest, if you were blind? Well, Sabriye has achieved all of this and more. The world has recognized Sabriye Tenberken and her extraordinary mission. She is a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Mother Theresa Award recipient and television host Oprah Winfrey’s personal choice on her show “Eight Women Oprah Wants You To Know.” “What I have always wanted to do,” Sabriye says, “is to make a positive difference in the lives of people. That I have been able to do".

Sabriye Tenberken’s life has one inspiring message for you. You can make a difference  wherever you are. Helping a less fortunate child. Planting trees. Transforming your community. Your smallest act will make the difference today. Like Sabriye. You can discover this on the shores of the Vellayani lake. Most importantly, you will discover this within yourself.

Visit www.braillewithoutborders.org to learn more about  IISE.