My Heart In Africa: Poverty- the Father of Creativity

If necessity is the Mother of Invention, poverty is the Father of Creativity. I have nice machines to do my laundry, but the ladies in the photo above do amazing work with dirty water and sandy soil.

A few weeks in Africa traveling for Outreach made me aware of the astonishing ingenuity of people with so little at their disposal.  I have a shop full of woodworking tools and years of construction experience to go with it, so I understand how difficult it is for these artisans to make functional beauty.

Look at the following examples of creativity.

A welder. Notice the machine with coils- his welding machine.

 

A carpenter sawing rafters by hand –

 

A water well- with no electricity, some found rope, car tires and old bicycle rims make for a pump.

 

Block making machine-  put some sand and cement in and you  can build your own house-

 

Butcher with razor sharp knives –

 

A mobile Quick Trip-

 

Making your own storage baskets –

 

Hauling your own water supply –

 

Transporting chickens to market –

 

I am inspired by people who do so much with so little. I had a list of tools I thought I needed for my shop, but I erased them when I returned. Tanzanians inspire to do more with less!