Tibetannet

Enbo, 63, is a Tibetan blind masseur who was born into a herdsman’s family in the Hongyuan County of the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He lost his sight when he was in the fourth grade in 1981 due to an accident.

During the time he studied and worked in a blind people’s massage hospital in Chengdu, he realized that many blind Tibetan students could not study efficiently due to their unfamiliarity with Mandarin. For example, they had to spend two semesters on the curriculum designed originally for one semester yet could still barely pass the exams. “This kind of difficulty is all caused by a language barrier.” Enbo said,  as Louis Braille invented The Braille Alphabet System, he also hoped that he could become the Tibetan Louis Braille who would  create a Tibetan Braille system that would equip the blind people in Tibetan areas with a tool of easy learning. 

Later Enbo quitted his stable job from the Chengdu massage hospital and returned to Markang where he set up a massage clinic. He continued to learn massage skills while starting to create the Tibetan Braille Alphabet. It took him almost 20 years to complete it. Nowadays, the Tibetan Braille Alphabet has not only rid the space between characters, it has also doubled the intake capacity of characters. His biggest wish now is that the Tibetan Braille Alphabet System he created will be approved by the government and popularized.

Thanks to the support of the Disabled Federation of Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Enbo opened the first skills training course for the blind at his home in Aba in March 2016. The living expenses are all subsidized by the money earned by the clinic.

According to statistics, there are 3,992 blind people in Aba Prefecture. Director-General of the Aba Disabled Federsation said, currently they are helping Enbo expand his training course.