Haben Girma with Lainey Feingold – Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law (San Francisco Ferry Building Store)
Saturday, September 7, 2019 – 3:00pm
In Conversation with Lainey Feingold • If you need disability accommodations, please contact Cheryl McKeon at 415-832-1020 or events@bookpassage.com
Haben Girma grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she discovered courage as she faced off against a bull she couldn’t see, and found in herself an abiding strength as she absorbed her parents’ harrowing experiences during Eritrea’s thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Their refugee story inspired her to embark on a quest for knowledge, traveling the world in search of the secret to belonging. She explored numerous fascinating places, including Mali, where she helped build a school under the scorching Saharan sun. Her many adventures over the years range from the hair-raising to the hilarious.
Haben defines disability as an opportunity for innovation. She learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created an exciting new way to connect with people. Haben pioneered her way through obstacles, graduated [...]