A teenage sensation

In 2006, Tom uncovered electrical cables at a transformer in Hurungwe and sustained serious burns. The incident occurred in Chief Kazangarare’s area about 80km north of Karoi town. “I do not remember why I touched the live cables at the transformer. My friends alerted villagers but the damage had been done. I lost both hands,” recalls Tom.

Tom’s accident occurred a year after losing his parents and he has been cared for by his elderly grandmother, Mbuya Matilda, who has since passed away, leaving him without a guardian.

Following the incident, he was admitted at Harare hospital and later enrolled at St Giles for three years. He then went back to Kazangarare where he herded goats and started drawing. In 2011, he was enrolled at Karoi’s Just Children Orphanage and the following year he got a place at Jairosi Jiri Centre.

‘’When I went to Jairosi Jiri, I started drawing using my mouth and I am happy drawing animals and fruits. I am also a gospel singer. I am a swimmer at school where everyone is treated as equal,” he says.

Tom operates the keyboard using his feet. South African-based Good Samaritans heard his story and facilitated the recording of his music in the capital this month.

“My only word of advice is that disability is not inability. We must be committed to achieve our goals in life,” he said.

One of his drawings of an elephant was posted on Netherlands-based Ten Foundation, a Non-Government Organisation website, with a short story entitled ‘Amazing artwork from Karoi’.