Creative Women of the World is THE place to find original designs created by women who live in developing countries and by women in the US that support and believe in the power of creativity as a solution for poverty. After working with HAPI (Haitian Assets for Peace International) in Haiti for four years, Lorelei VerLee was asked by women in other countries to start a new "social" business named Creative Women of the World. Our website www.goCWOW.org and store front in Fort Wayne gives us an opportunity to share the stories of women around the world who have found the power of creativity. In many countries, women are not given the right to think independently-- to see or even look for possibility. Consequently, their lives are mired in exhausting poverty with no hope of getting out. But when they begin to see possibility, their attitudes and lives shift dramatically. Lorelei learned a lot working with HAPI as she watched them employ ABCD, Asset Based Community Development. Rather than looking for all the problems that need solutions in a community, as most non-profits do, HAPI uses the tool of assessing Assets. They may include respect for the environment, a collective community culture, and individual skill training. To look at what assets are available rather than focusing on just the problems, requires some creative thinking. People have to break out of familiar ruts of negativity and focus on possibilities instead. For women this seems particularly freeing because in many countries, their role has never been in leading community development. Often their hidden skills come out in the form of beautifully made products and the benefits are multiple. They begin to earn a living that allows them to feed and see their children become educated. It elicits respect from their husbands and domestic violence goes down. In a collective society, they find they can even support neighbors who are not able to work so there is good will. And in the case of HAPI, they began to see a connection between a God who loves them and wants more for them. They recognize that thinking creatively is a gift from God. They realize that true faith in God is active not passive. Charity has not worked. Charity is not sustainable. It is risky for anyone to depend on it and it creates a feeling of "Us and Them" that is dis-empowering. On the other hand, when people are urged to look at what they DO have, what they ARE capable of and focus on that, not only do individual lives change, whole communities rise up out of extreme poverty. I have seen it work over and over again! When women come up with a beautiful product to sell, Creative Women of the World can be the conduit. We are a nonprofit offering business training for creatives and a venue for retail marketing. Our social business focuses on selling products handmade by marginalized women who own small businesses located in developing countries and in the US. The principles of asset based community development work EVERYWHERE so we encourage women even in our own country to begin using their creative thinking skills to find solutions. Even though poverty in this country is not as extreme as in developing countries, the psychological effect is equally exhausting. Creativity— looking at what IS and imagining what CAN BE— is the answer!
