By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe 14th Octomber 2014..
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Stories
of people achieving unusual successes despite many challengers never fall to
capture our attention. They asre inspirational to be sure, but they are much
more than that if we study them closely. Goals are what drive them to be such
exemplary characters and the story that follows is one of an extraordinary
individual who is on his journey to success.Tuan Mohammed Rushdi Cassim, 27, is a charming young lad from Enderamulla, Wattala. Having had his primary education at Carey College, he was among the many other students who had a vision to succeed in life. Yet, like for every other human being, life was not easy for him. Suffering from faint vision and night blindness ever since he was small, Rushdi had difficulties in doing his day-to-day work specially in dim light. When he consulted several local ophthalmologists none of them could identify his condition.
Without giving, he left to India where he was able to find what has come up to be his biggest challenge. According to doctors, Rushdi was suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa, which is an identified eye disease in which there is damage to the Retina and would often cause severe vision impairment and often blindness. Although he was thoroughly disheartened by this message, he was not willing to step down from his journey. In the preceding years, he graduated from the National Institute of Business Management with a BSc. In Management Information Systems, along with an Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management and Diploma in Psychology from the American College of Higher Education (ACHE), Dehiwala. He was a member of the Sri Lankan Council for the Blind(SLCB) where he learned Braille, how to use the white cane and also came across many visually impaired individuals who were engaged in business. When looking at them he was motivated in giving them a hand and in turn he came up with an idea to develop an online marketing store.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror about his idea, Rushdi said “ I Want to give a hand to all visually impaired individuals in the Island. People are more oriented to work online nowadays. This is an online marketing store in which all visually impaired persons will be able to market their product and find a living. I started it this month and with the help of my friend I am in the process of finding the contact details of all visually impaired persons who are doing business. Their details will be up on the web site and anybody willing to donate or buy their products is more than welcome to visit the web site and make their contribution”.
In addition to tech skills, Rushdi is also a talented sportsman. He was a participant at the All Island Visually Impaired Chess Tournament, where he was placed 2nd and received his certificate from Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal. He also a swimmer being trained under Julin Bolling and a member of the cricket team at SLCB. With such talents, Rushdi’s only wish is to complete work on his web site by January, 2015. Yet, it is something which he cannot do on his own. In addition to his initial idea, he said, “The software and the magnifiers are use to magnify images on the screen rather expensive. Also I want to continue my studies as well. I would like if someone could support me in my studies in the future”.
This vision, this dream, this goal, invisible to the entire world except the person holding it, is responsible for perhaps every great advancement and achievement of humankind. Everything worthwhile achieved by every human being is a dream come true a goal being reached. It’s been said that whatever the mind can conceive and believe will be achieved. On a concluding remark, giving a valuable message to all individuals, Rushdi said: “Go ahead in life without expecting any sympathy from anyone and do not complain about your weaknesses. Take maximum use of what you have, Without the help of some individuals I would never have come this far. Therefore I would like to thank Mr. Sanjeewa who helped me in Chess, Mr. Julian Bolling, the SLCB and Ms. Manique Gunarathne from The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon who gave me immense support to be who I am today”.
Anybody who wishes to give a hand to Rushdi could contact him via his email address tmrcassim@gmail.com.
