About Me

My name is Chrisford Chayera. I come from Nanganga Village, T/A Mazengera in Lilongwe District in  Malawi. I was born on 25th December, 1971 (Christmas  Day). I am the second born child in a family of five (2 boys & 3 girls).

But despite being born during the festive season of the year, my life has largely been associated with Loneliness, Hopelessness, Abuse, Misery and Rejection. This was because when I was 11yrs old (April, 1982), I got a polio attack which crippled both of my hands and my legs permanently.

However, all the doubts and negativity which characterize my life, have helped me to be in a weird Class of my Own. I stopped asking: WHY ME LORD? because I realized that God made me like this to be an instrument for people around the world to see the Grace, Powers, Wonders and Surprises which He invested upon my Life in the midst of my disabilities. I am a living Testimony and proof that:

- Nobody should look down upon you for any reason 

- With God everything is possible

- Disability is not Inability

- God each one of us as we are for a special purpose to glorify Himself in one way or the other 

I still remember the last day I stood and walked on my feet. I was going to play football with my friends, and in a twinkle of an eye, my knees and feet grew cold. I fell on the ground and since that day, I have never managed to stand up for the past 42 years. 

Life was never the same again. I was rendered useless and helpless to anybody around me. All my friends abandoned me as an invalid heap of human bones and flesh and a talking head. 

Nobody cared much about me except  for my mother and one of my sisters who worked hard to carry me on their backs whenever there was nobody to stay with me at home. 

My father disliked me as an alien creature in the family. One day he released the demon from his heart and told my mum he was sick, tired and disgusted to see a useless cripple in his house. He then suggested that my mum should go and stay with me at the village or else he would divorce her so that he got rid of me. Sadly the worst later option happened. My Dad divorced my Mum solely because of my condition and my mum took me to stay at the village. But God was with me and my Mum even at our lowest point in the village. We lacked many things but we survived by His Abundant Grace. 

One day a well-wisher shocked me to tears when he secured a Wheelchair for me from MAP (Malawi Against Polio).  Then another Angel surprised me with some good news whereby the Lilongwe City Council granted me a Bursary to pay for my school fees until I finish my education. So I started going to school again. That's where I taught myself how to write by using my mouth. As time went by I began to draw pictures with my mouth about anything that came to my mind. 

I thank God that I worked hard at  secondary school up to Form 4. Sadly none of my siblings went far with their education. All my 3 sisters died and only my younger one is alive. My mum died in 1994 while my father died in 2018.

After finishing school I couldn't get any job mainly due to my disability challenges. Therefore I continued to improve and perfect my painting skills until the general public began to recognise my artworks. That was the birth of my career as a Professional Mouth Visual Artist / Painter. I once served as the President for Visual Artists Association of Malawi (VAAM). And the rest is history.

I then opened my own Chayera Art Gallery in town. Business was going on very well to the extent that I was able:

- To support my father and my jobless siblings 

- To get married to my first wife 

- To support our 3 children

- To go to Japan for an Art Exhibition

- Etc

But the devil wasn't happy when my wife started cheating on me by flirting with other men. When I confronted her, she became mad at me and said that she was tired of caring for me without any benefit or pension. She even took me to court and filed for divorce fun 2017. This was a big blow to me because she took away most of the valuable household items we had acquired over the past years of our marriage. So I employed a certain young man who used to care for me and push my wheelchair too.

In 2019 my Art Gallery was broken into and looted by angry political thugs who were coming from Demonstrations. This was another big blow that rendered me hopeless again and without any source of income.

But I thank God for connecting me to Dad Richard Trotter through Frank Kuseni who was working as Director at Hope for the Hopeless Initiative (HfHC). Since 2013, Dad Richard and every UK Team have been supporting my struggling Art Business by buying my paintings and other items. They have also been inviting me to speak and motivate their audiences about self reliance and hardworking spirit.  Therefore my partnership with HfHC / RMI / Good Hope School in the past few yrs has grown over the past few years, until they honored me to be their Goodwill Ambassador. 

Finally I thank God that he has blessed me with my new found love 💕 Isabella, as we celebrate our engagement.

Yours faithfully,

Chrisford Chayera

(MOUTH PAINTER)