Sabriye frequently exhorts the students， “Take the cane with youwhen you go out.” She also warns adolescent students to stick withblind friends or risk being mistreated by sighted ones in future. Paul likes to drive fast. Every time Sabriye is about to go out with Paul， the children beseech him to drive slowly. “How could we surviveif you both were to have an accident? From 1998 to the present， 114 blind children have been trained ineverything from Braille （Tibetan， Chinese and English） to proficiencyin terms of reading， speaking and writing; 15 of them were enrolled inregular schools and all of them ranked first at some point in their Englishcourse; 10 students were trained in medical massage; and someof the others returned to their hometowns and began to employ theirskills in agriculture or handicrafts. A survey made by Paul revealedthat these blind children went from being a burden to the main sourcesof income for their families.
“Most importantly， Sabriye has turned these blind children fromself-deprecatory to self-confident，” says Ciluo. “Some training schoolslimit their freedom in consideration of their safety; however Sabriyetaught them to try everything. “What blindness ties up is vision， not mind.” Sabriye inculcatedher students year after year with this quotation from a blind Frenchman.
At present， the number of enrollment applications far exceeds theschool’s capacity. Moreover， insufficient funds and classrooms are bottlenecksto the further expansion of the school. Sabriye and Paul taketime out each year to travel to other countries seeking donations， withthe aid of Sabriye’s presentations.
The school’s logo depicts two hands， one facing up and onedown， protecting an eye. Paul distributes the logo to visitors， saying“We hope your charity becomes the caring hand. The Exotic Romance
The only tandem bicycle in Lhasa belongs to Paul and Sabriye.
When they go out riding， they create quite a spectacle in Lhasa City，and people describe them as “riding wing to wing”。 Sabriye admitsthat she would have given up if not for Paul’s support.
Paul holds degrees in mechanical engineering， computer science，242 commercial technology， and communication system science. His volunteerwork includes working as a designer and construction coordinatorfor the Swiss Red Cross to build up a catastrophe rescue centerand a school for Tibetan medicine; constructing township primaryschools in countries such as Zimbabwe， Botswana and Zambia; gettinginvolved in designing projects for schools and residences in countriessuch as South Africa. In this school for the blind， Paul is in charge oftraining students in computers， bookkeeping and office work.
Paul emphasizes that his stay in Tibet is for the happiness in hisheart. He says： “I am ‘giving’ rather than ‘demanding’， and what Idemand is smiles from the others.” Paul loves to see the children’shappy faces， loves to feel their sincere gratitude. His happiest moment，he says， was when guests to the school saw the tremendous changesmade. “When they first came to our school， they thought the childrenwould not be able to do anything. Now， of course， it’s a different story. Paul and Sabriye first got to know each other at the Banak SholHotel in Lhasa， around August 1997. Paul’s initial impressions of her were of a strong-willed， humorous girl. Sabriye told Paul that sheplanned to open a school for the blind in Lhasa， and Paul replied thathe would join her if she could manage the funding. Paul says： “Wewere just chatting and half joking at the time.” Nine months later， onMay 15， 1998， when Sabriye called Paul and informed him that shehad already raised the funds and planned to go to Tibet， Paul predictedthat the opportunity for a change was imminent. Five days after thecall， Sabriye flew to Lhasa with Paul， who had resigned from his job.
It was only half a year after that they fell in love. One of Sabriye’
s requirements of her life companion was that he should be darkhaired， and Paul， a natural blond， had to lie to Sabriye. The lie was discoveredon his visit to Sabriye’s home in Germany.
Paul told Sabriye’s mother that the blind children in Tibet hadgiven him the opportunity to meet and consort with Sabriye， and thathe felt very lucky. Paul appreciates her for her courage and perseverance，and also for her “beautiful heart”。 As time goes by， Paul says， heis more and more attracted to these qualities and believes strongly thatshe will succeed.
Searching for the Source of LoveSabriye’s mother has visited Tibet several times. One day， Sabriyewent on a picnic with the blind children and her mother， to the park.
Upon reaching there， the children began to cover broken beer bottleswith soil. When she saw this， Sabriye’s mother pushed aside the soilwith chopsticks and picked up the broken pieces one by one， then tookoff her hat and put the pieces in the hat.
Sabriye and Paul don’t plan to have a baby just yet. Paul says it’sbecause they “have regarded these blind children as our own”。 Sabriyesays that since the founding of the school， the inner energy of the studentshas motivated her to seek more rights for them. According toPaul， Braille Without Borders has been a win-win program.
Sabriye has not taught for a year now， and is looking out for asuccessor. She has two choices： to leave Lhasa， or to extend her con24tract for five years. However， she has already seen to it that the schoolwill be in good hands after she leaves — in the hands of the graduates，the new teachers. Sabriye hopes for the school to exist forever， its existenceproving that the world of the blind is not necessarily dark.
Sabriye and Paul plan to go to Kerala， in south India， to set upanother Braille Without Borders there. Applications are now beingaccepted for the first batch in the summer of 2008. Students will betrained in computers， English， IT， management， fund-raising， publicrelations and engineering planning. Sabriye believes that only theblind can change people’s prejudices towards them， through the exhibitionof their talents.
By the end of the interview， I decided to use the title of a bookby Helen Keller， Three Days to See， and asked Sabriye if she had anyrequests. She said， almost instantly， “I wish to see all of my picturestaken by Paul; I wish to see my lovely students; and I wish to seebeautiful Lhasa. （Thanks to Ren Linli for assistance during the interview.）
By Li Yanchun
Translated by Huang JunmeiRevised by K. Krishna
