The Blind School in Tibet
We went to a blind school for children in Tibet. This is what it was like . . .
The children were blind. Some looked normal and some were staring into space or had white eyes. There were 40 boys and girls. They are from age 4 to 21. Actually, they are supposed to be from age 8 to 14 but their parents lied about some of their ages.
There are a lot of blind Tibetan people because of sand storms, little vitamin D, the altitude, ashes from fires, and poor healthcare. People thought they had done something wrong because they had a blind child.
The school has a really bad playground with lots of junk and trash in it including old bicycles, wheels, beds, a heap of metal, and broken cinder blocks. It was really dangerous, especially for blind people. The school had two classrooms for 20 people each. There was also a kitchen, dining room, computer room, and two dorm rooms. One dorm was for girls and one was for boys. They had three-story bunk beds and lockers.
They used a braille typewriter, a braille tracer, and a braille computer. The kids learned lots of subjects, including math, English, computer braille and life skills. After they graduate they get to choose what they want to do. Some of them learned to be farmers and some work at the Braille School. A group of them decided to start a massage business.
Blind people can do almost everything that we can do. You should go to a blind school to visit. They do a really good job of teaching blind kids in Tibet at the Blind School.