2009 Newsletters
Jan 15th, 2009BLINDSIGHT Available on DVD
Blindsight Available on DVD.
Greetings and Happy New Year!
We are pleased to announce the DVD release of BLINDSIGHT, the award-winning documentary chronicling Erik's 2004 climb with six blind Tibetan teenagers to 21,500' on Lhakpa Ri, a mountain on the flanks of Everest.
The film has received much international acclaim, including the Audience Award at the two biggest festivals in the world, Los Angeles and Berlin. The film has met with standing ovations at premiers across the United States and abroad, and was on the shortlist for an Academy Award nomination. It completed its U.S. theater run last fall.
Shortly after Erik's historic summit of Mt. Everest in 2001, he received a letter from a blind German teacher, Sabriye Tenberken, who had founded a school for the blind in Lhasa, Tibet. Sabriye asked if Erik would visit her Braille Without Borders school. They had followed him on the Internet as he made his way to the top of the world. In a culture where blind people are viewed as being possessed by evil spirits, vilified and spat upon, this was a life-changing experience. Erik was so inspired by Sabriye's cause and the school's mission that he committed to visit, but with a twist. He would come with his Everest team to train the students in mountaineering techniques, then lead them on a climb up Lhakpa Ri, a peak in the shadow of Chomolungma (Everest), their sacred mountain shrouded in folklore and spiritual mystery. In a largely uneducated and agrarian population, blind children are often treated as burdens to their families. Not allowed to attend schools, they are sometimes tied to beds while their parents work in the fields. When Sabriye first visited Tibet, she found blind children who were three and four years old who had never learned to walk.
Sabriye's work at Braille Without Borders has made a profound difference in the education of blind children in Tibet. Having learned the basic skills of using canes to navigate the jumbled streets of Lhasa, and becoming literate in English, Chinese and Tibetan Braille, her students are some of the best educated in Tibet.
Erik thought this expedition might make a difference for the blind youth of Tibet and make a statement to the world. We won't tell you the outcome of the expedition, except to say that Erik and the Tibetan teenagers set their sights on Lhakpa Ri, a 23,000-foot Himalayan peak. And it won't ruin the story of their immense struggle to report that the team eventually stood higher than any team of blind climbers in history. Each student has subsequently taken his or her own pathway in Tibet, making major contributions to their Tibetan society and serving as wonderful examples of what people with special challenges can accomplish, with the right training and encouragement.
Sabriye and her partner Paul Kronenberg have recently founded a new project in Kerala, India. Modeling after the school they founded in Lhasa, the program is aimed toward training individuals to create social projects like Braille Without Borders in their own countries. This program, the International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs, has accepted individuals from twenty-seven countries for the first year of the program. Kyila, one of the students Erik climbed with in Tibet, now runs the Braille Without Borders school in Lhasa. She is also attending the first leadership program in Kerala, along with Climbing Blind teammate, Gyenshen.
To order the DVD visit: http://blindsightthemovie.com/buyDVD.html.
For more information on the International Institute of Social Entrepreneurs, check out their website:
http://www.braillewithoutborders.org/ENGLISH/conceptkerala.html.
BLINDSIGHT Educational Apple Podcast
Recently Erik and some of his teammates worked with Robson Entertainment and Apple to produce short educational podcasts about the expedition and the film, BLINDSIGHT. Look for information in the near future about how to access these downloadable segments.
To watch the trailer for the film BLINDSIGHT, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzxGJaFr7jQ.
For more information about BLINDSIGHT, visit www.blindsightthemovie.com.
Donations to Braille Without Borders can be made to the US 501(c)(3) organization "Friends of Braille Without Borders,"
Attn: Ed Weihenmayer
619 Ocean Club Court
Amelia Island FL 32034
ed@touchthetop.com
904-321-1938
The team from the Climbing Blind Expedition
Erik speaks before 8,000 students at the National Youth Leadership Forum
As a part of the festivities surrounding inauguration weekend, Erik spoke to 8,000 students at the National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington DC, sharing the platform with former Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The NYLF is an independent, educational organization established to help young leaders make informed career choices. They create educational programs that enforce key values and inspire greatness in students. Erik was honored to be invited by the NYLF and to have the opportunity to speak before so many students.
Visit www.envisionemi.com for more information about the National Youth Leadership Forum.
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