This is Lovely from Bangladesh

Lovely is from a poor family in Bangladesh. When she was still only in class two she accepted a job as a maid in someone’s house and moved away from home. While working, Lovely fell from the roof and broke her neck. As a result of this accident, she became tetrapelgic (paralysed from the neck down) at the age of nine.

Lovely was admitted to the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) two weeks after her accident. After one and a half months of bed rest she was able to get out of bed and sit in a wheelchair. She soon developed an interest in painting and was encouraged to paint using a special splint that enables her to hold the paintbrush with her mouth.

In addition to painting, Lovely decided she wanted to carry on with her studies. Initially she needed a writer during exams but she soon mastered writing by holding a pencil in her mouth and now attends all exams without a writer. In 1999 Lovely decided to help other children in need. CRP decided to use Lovely’s story as the basis of a feature film called “Bihongo” in order to raise awareness of disability and to try to change the negative attitudes people have of disability.

The Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists (AMFPA) was persuaded to sponsor Lovely and provide funding for an art teacher and art equipment. Meanwhile CRP printed some of Lovely’s paintings as greetings cards and calendars and took the responsibility for marketing them. CRP takes a small percentage of the profit from sales and has opened a bank account for Lovely for the rest of the money.

Lovely’s artistic skills continue to improve and her fame has spread. She is the only mouth painter in Bangladesh. Recently her work was exhibited and sold in Dhaka and there are plans for a further exhibition in Dubai in the future. Her success story fascinates many and gives hope to disabled people throughout the world.

Lovely has kindly given permission to use her painting (on the right) for use in the publicity campaign for the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Conclude the Asian Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, to be held from 25 to 28 October 2002 in Otsu, Shiga Japan.