Arts
Grabbing life with one hand
Aiming high: Dhashuni
Meet Dhashuni Vinodahewa. The 22-year-old undergraduate has completed her CIMA ( Charted Institute of Management Accountants) and is looking forward to a career in management. A past student of Visakha Vidyalaya, Dhashuni is also completing the final year of a degree in Business Administration at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.
Completing CIMA by 22 is an achievement any student could be proud of and in Dhashuni’s case special congratulations are in order for she had some particular challenges to face in sitting her exams.
A right brachial plexus injury since birth (also known as Klumpke’s paralysis) affects the nerves which control her right hand limiting its functionality to less than 10%. This means that she cannot use her right hand for anything other than the simplest of tasks.
Although such a condition would slow almost anyone down, Dhashuni’s positive attitude to life has been her biggest asset. Bubbly and upbeat, Dhashuni doesn’t consider herself a ‘special case’.
Her assessment of herself is that she is someone who has issues just as anyone else does and she considers herself better off than most in terms of the opportunities which she received.
In the midst of her CIMA course, she faced a major hurdle when the exams were computerised in 2015. “When they changed it to PC based it was kind of tough because I was typing with one hand. My typing speed was a bit less than the others ,” she says.
After an unsuccessful attempt in March, she tried again in November. This time around, with the intervention of the local CIMA branch, she was granted an extra 12 minutes per hour, calculated according to the percentage of extra time recommended by her neurologist.
Since she wasn’t sure if she would be granted the additional time she kept practising and managed to improve from 10 wpm (words per minute) to around 30 wpm, she says. She was determined to get through the second time around, with or without the extra time. And so she did.
Growing up Dhashuni says her parents encouraged her to be independent. “I was not given special privileges. ‘My parents didn’t give me any special attention.
They treat all of us in the same way,” she says referring to her parents’ attitude towards her and her two sisters. “When I was little I couldn’t do my hair by myself but they encouraged me to try to do it by myself and I came up with a way to do it,” she says.
“We didn’t let her or her sisters feel that there was a difference between her and them,” Dhashuni’s mother, Deepika Thuduwewatta, said explaining that as a teacher, she has worked closely with children and therefore she had gained an insight on how to raise children with a positive mindset. She constantly observed her daughter to assess her capabilities based on her behaviour.
Dhashuni’s father, Sajith Vinodahewa, feels that Dhashuni is a great strength to both her parents. “I was working in Saudi Arabia for some time and at this time only my wife was at home looking after our three daughters.
Dhashuni really rose to the occasion and took her responsibilities as the eldest very seriously,” he said. He feels that her positive attitude, which she had even as a child, is something which has held her in good stead and made her who she is today.
“Sometimes I wish I could use both hands but that’s only for a second and then I get over it and move on,” Dhashuni says, matter of fact. Her attitude to difficulties is ‘ don’t give up’.
“Even if there are small issues in your life, you shouldn’t be depressed, other people have bigger problems and so you have to move on with your life.”
She quotes Bill Gates: “Life is not fair, get used to it” – advice which highlights most of her philosophy of life.