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Dear friends and supporters of all our without border's projects,

Don't you feel that every year time is running faster and faster? The year 2011 was rather quick, a year with a lot of healthy developments, full of energy, fire and spice.

Towards the end of each year everyone is settling down to celebrate Christmas and to look back to what all has happened. Our graduates from the IISE have returned to their respective countries. Paul and I decided to travel home to and Holland after many years of celebrating Christmas either on the icy or in the tropical surrounding of Kerala. The students in the school and the farm in are preparing for "Chrissemisse", their very special celebration which is more a combination of the Tibetan Ganden light festival, Christmas and a fair well party for Father Mike, for all students and staff.

1. THE LAND OF ICE Right now, Tibet is freezing cold. On the Farm, at an altitude of 3900 m, the temperature varies between eleven degrees Celsius during daytime and minus eleven degrees at night. Everyone is getting ready for the cold winter months January and February. Our Tibetan colleagues use South facing greenhouse like structures in front of the dormitory-windows to collect the heat of the sun. On the doors the house parents have placed extra quilts and blankets to protect the kids of the ice winds. All kids are packed in thick winter jackets, winter boots and winter “long johns”. During meals in the dining room an old iron Tibetan-yak-dung stove is lit up to heat up the room and to boil water. Everyone on the farm is preparing for the big celebration which will be held on the 21 st of December. All blind students who attend regular schools will return to their homes, but before doing so, every year they plan in a stop-over in the farm, their second home, to celebrate their achievements.

Kikis Kindergarten is in Father Christmas mood. Kyila discovered the German Nicolaus tradition on her visit at my parent's place in Germany. All her children leave their shoes outside the dormitory and in the morning their shoes are filled with sweets, oranges or small little gifts.

After a very successful autumn, the Preparatory school in is also ready to close down for the long winter break. In October and November our students and teachers were busy with sensitizing the government and the society for the needs and the rights of the blind. The children created theater-plays, tragedies and comedies, and one play about the advantages of a life with a white cane. These theater plays were performed on the streets of Lhasa and received a lot of positive feedback. Currently all the students are preparing for the end of the year exams. Upon completion, they will travel to their home villages. Most of them will take several days to return home since they live in the rural areas high up in the mountains of Tibet.

2. GRADUATION in the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs 2011 ended with a big bang. 16 graduates, 15 projects in five different continents. The last few months all participants had prepared for their graduation. One of the deliveries was a project proposal with a clear and detailed description of their concept, their plans, their motivation and a budget. The other deliverable was a 15 minutes public speech with a questions and Answers session, all in front of an international panel of experts. The presentations were live-streamed in the Internet. Some panel members were present in the auditorium and others were

1 watching online. Christine Maier, a well known Swiss talk show host and daily news anchor, had arrived one week prior to the dream speeches and helped the participants to prepare for their presentations. Christine moderated the speeches and all of them went very well. Here an extract of an article, written by Sankar Radhakrishnan - a writer, editor and communications consultant - and a member of the panel of experts.

"Stories from the dream factory There’s little that can top a well-told story, especially if it is your own Story. The five stories I heard last Sunday were in a class of their own. They took me on long journeys across time, space and the recesses of the human mind. They were deeply moving stories of determination, passion and hope. Above all, they were personal stories told by women and men who have fought the odds just to have the freedom to be themselves and chase their dreams. So there I was at the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs near Trivandrum. Every year, the institute — which is a project of — runs a program to mould visionaries and social change makers. Those who attend the program come from across the world, from different backgrounds and with different physical capabilities. What unites them though is the determination to climb every mountain in pursuit of their dream. and Paul Kronenberg, the founders of the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs (IISE), believe that it is a ‘dream factory’ that creates leaders who will drive social change. So towards the very end of each year’s training program, every participant gets to make a ‘dream speech’ — a presentation on the social venture they plan to run after graduating. This year, 16 change makers are graduating from the institute, and their stories and dreams are as diverse as they are. There’s Marguerite, a single mother who overcame low self-esteem, got herself a degree in her mid-30s, turned around a business and, more recently, battled the loss of her eyesight. Phoenix-like, she has risen from each adversity, and now intends to create a learning hub in Baltimore to empower African American women. Then there’s Marcus who saw his family’s fortunes turn to dust and his many ‘friends’ disappear. So what did the ever-smiling Marcus do? He went out and found himself a dream — to start a creative design-based program to help Nigeria’s marginalized youth build an identity for themselves. Being partially sighted has worked to her advantage, says Tahreer from Palestine. For it has enabled her to walk down paths that are open to very few women from Hebron. And now, she wants to help other women find ways in which they too can shape their lives. To begin with, she dreams of opening Hebron’s first Internet café for women, which will also be a safe space for Palestinian women to meet, learn and empower themselves. Raja’s story is one of spunk; of not letting his physical challenges get the better of him. It’s also a story of compassion for people who fall through society’s cracks. While talking to prisoners in the Pondicherry jail as part of his graduate research, Raja realized that their children often get a very bad deal. So his new mission is to set up centers that will take care of the young children of those who are incarcerated in ’s prisons. And then there’s Nelson, who has seen death, torture and a million other horrors brush past him during Liberia’s long civil war. Now that peace has come, he wants to empower Liberia’s disadvantaged, especially those with disabilities, through a community radio station. Beyond the adversity, passion and grit that runs through these stories is the tenet that hope endures. And that redemption is only a thought away." http://sankarrad.blogspot.com/2011/11/stories-from-dream-factory.html *The dream speeches can be viewed at: www.livestream.com/iise

3. A NEW SYMBOL FOR OUR INSTITUTE

When people hear our rather long and difficult to pronounce name "International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs" they often get the impression that we are something like a social business school or one of many "leadership training centres" with a social touch. But in fact we are less and much more than that. We envision individuals anywhere in the world who, through innovative ideas, contribute to their communities in an ethical and positive way. Individuals who start schools for the blind, training centers for the disabled, all with new empowering approaches. Individuals who plan environmental projects, create technical innovations and create mind set changes by transforming concepts and challenge harmful traditional norms.

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Are we just a training center? We see ourselves much more as a spring board for provocative thinkers and driven doers, for those who have the fire in the belly, for those who want to bring spice into society! We are searching for talented and charismatic personalities who have the guts to challenge the status quo and the spirit to come up with innovative solutions for old and new problems. The question is, how do we call these positive change makers, these visionaries who have the guts to challenge the status quo and the energy to execute ethical change? Is simply "leader" the right term? We saw ourselves in the need to find a new symbol which describes this very special kind of change makers and we discovered it in our own backyard: the symbol is a Kanthari, a small but powerful Chilly. Kanthari is a plant that grows wild in every backyard of Kerala. Kanthari is famous for its medicinal values, it stands for purity, ethics and energy, it creates a sensation, and functions as a wake-up call.

The Chief Guest of our graduation ceremony, Mr. TP Sreenivasan, a former ambassador and a former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Described his impressions in the Indian Express. Here an extract of his article: "Kanthari, the chili that makes a difference I was at an unusual convocation at what was till recently called the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs on the Vellayani lake in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. As the graduates walked up to me to receive a sash and a diploma each, it became evident that each one was physically challenged in one way or another. Each one needed help, either of another person or a cane. They were all of different complexions and different sizes and ages, ranging from 18 to 60. But each one was smiling and each one had a plan for the future… … They were brimming with hope and confidence and determined to make a difference to the world. Sensing the mood of the graduates and knowing each one of them closely, the promoters of the institution on behalf of the "Braille without Borders Foundation", Sabriye and Paul announced a change of name, "Kanthari". The Malayali audience was surprised and amused that an institution is named after the smallest and the most potent chili in the world. Sabriye and her team had indeed studied the Kanthari well. She said it grew wild in the backyards of homes with no tender care, it produced colorful and potent chillies that would make a big difference to the palate, when eaten cooked or uncooked and no one will forget the Kanthari once it has been tasted. These graduates, she said. were like Kanthari in every respect. Sabriye, blind herself and determined, is indeed a Kanthari, which has already made a difference to many people in different parts of the world. The name 'Kanthari' also resonated, by chance, with Gandhari, the legendary wife of Dhritarashtra, who voluntarily blindfolded herself in empathy with her blind husband. Sabriye (German) and Paul (Dutch), who spent twelve years in Tibet, helping the blind there, won the approbation not only of Tibetans, but also the authorities, who awarded them an honor given earlier to Marx and Engels. They found their way to Kerala in 2009 to find a beautiful spot, which, ironically, Sabriye herself and most participants would not see. They had immense success with volunteers, donors and bewildered well- wishers who helped them set up a home for about forty participants from around the globe. Social projects that improve the quality of blind, visually impaired people and marginalized target groups were devised and invitations went around the world. It made no segregation between the able and disabled, educated and uneducated, young and old. Those who were admitted in the last three years were people who had overcome significant life challenges ranging from vision impairment, disability, poverty, war, discrimination and exploitation. Having experienced or witnessed atrocities of various kinds. they had a passion to make the world a better place and the strength to be forces of good rather than victims of circumstance. The graduates will return to their homes with the necessary skills to succeed as social entrepreneurs such as

3 management, public speaking, communication, leadership, fund raising, budgeting, book keeping and others. The course has been curtailed from eleven months to seven to have two groups per year. Some are self supporting, while others have scholarships… ..The participants appeared to have lost all barriers during their stay at the Kanthari. They seemed fully equipped to face the challenges of their life ahead with no inhibition about their disabilities. They had turned themselves into kantharis, with enough spice in them to change the world.

4. OTHER NEWS: - Trivandrum global city of innovation Alexei Levene, a catalyst of the IISE in 2011, was attracted by our initial thoughts of creating Trivandrum as a global city of social innovation. Together with UST Global, the main supporter of this idea, he started to reach out for interested partners in various fields. Alexei Levene is focusing on "enabling Trivandrum to become a globally recognized hub for social innovation across a number of domains, including, but not limited to Clean Energy, Waste Management, Accessibility and Education. The vision is to pioneer products and ventures that empower citizens and where these can be ‘exported’ and localized across India and the world." His vision is to effect a global recognition of Trivandrum as the hub for social innovation, at the same time as benefiting the citizens of the city based on the ideas of Kanthari, the initiative is focusing on local solutions that can have a global impact. Here a few activities rolled out in the last three months: - Solar powered bi-cycles and solar street lights which will be rolled out in Technopark and later in the city, - Projects on a waste free Kovalam and a shelter for stray dogs in partnership with Kerala Tourism, - Solar powered computer labs in schools and many other projects on the horizon for 2012. The website www.tgci.in will be going live in January.

- TORTOIISE – THE FLOATING ISLAND Jasmin Zasinski, a German volunteer who joined the IISE through the German governmental program "Weltwärts" together with Shyam Kumar, our eco- inventor, have initiated a floating island, a homage to the beautiful environment we are living in. The island is constructed with waste materials and was constructed solely by IISE colleagues. It floats on more than 10.000 plastic bottles and the hut is built with leftover bamboo sticks and windshield of cars. This initiative is thought to be an example for Kerala's tourism industry which partly relies on houseboat adventures. These houseboats, however, need new technology to be more environmentally friendly.

Dear Friends and supporters of all Braille without borders projects in Tibet, India and beyond, Without your help and support, all of this wouldn't be possible. We want to thank you on behalf of the blind children in Tibet and all of our 65 Kanthari graduates and their many beneficiaries. The team in Tibet and India wishes you a merry Christmas and an even better new year.

Braille Without Borders www.braillewithoutborders.org

Sabriye Tenberken Paul Kronenberg

MISSING:

CHANGEMAKER “CARRIES A PLAN FOR SOCIAL CHANGE!”

There are still some open places for the Kanthari course starting in July 2012 Apply at www.kanthari.org

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