BWB's mission is to give hope and practical skills to the blind and in particular to teachbraille to the blind in developing countries; if no braille script exists for a particular language in a developing country, BWB must first develop it.
Formerly known as theProject for the Blind, Tibet, in September 2002 the project adopted the nameBraille Without Borders.
School for the blind: The first centre, a school for blind Tibetan children, was established inLhasa in 1997.
Massage centre: A clinical massage centre run and operated by the blind in Lhasa.
Vocational Training Farm: A second centre, a farm and cheese factory, for the vocational training of adults has been established atPelshong 270 km west of Lhasa nearShigatse.
In August 2017 it was made public that Chinese authorities will shut down the school for the blind as well as the vocational training farm without giving reasons.[1]
IISE: TheInternational Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE) began in January 2009. This school runs an eleven-month-long course to train both sighted and non-sighted people to establish and run their own social projects. The IISE is located atKalliyoor on theVellayani lakeside about 12 km fromTrivandrum, the capital ofKerala, India.[2]
In 2011 IISE changed its name to "kanthari". A kanthari is a plant that grows wild in every backyard of Kerala, a small, spicy chili with a number of medicinal values. A kanthari is also a symbol for those who dare to challenge harmful traditions and the status quo, who have fire in their belly and many innovative ideas to make a positive difference. A kanthari will become the symbol of a new type of leader, a leader from the margins of society. The kanthari leadership course lasts seven months andalways starts in May.
In 2004, Paul and Sabriye and a team of their blind students from Lhasa embarked upon theClimbing Blind expedition in Tibet under the leadership of blindEverest mountaineerErik Weihenmayer. The prize-winning documentaryBlindsight about this expedition was released worldwide to cinemas in 2006.
2006 release of the documentary filmBlindsight about the climbing project in theHimalayas withErik Weihenmayer and students from the School for the Blind in Lhasa.
