creativity in the slums

My team recently discussed the topic of creativity and how it relates to the church, our selves and our neighbors in our slum communities. It’s so easy for us to live life so practically so as to forget about the necessity of creativity and beauty that makes life worth living.

We asked the question, “How have we seen creativity among our neighbors who are poor?” A number of things were shared.

The kids playing football, not with an actual football, but with a plastic bag stuffed with leaves.

My neighbors showed me how they hang clothes in a small space in their room during monsoon season when clothes can’t hang outside.

Countless kids play games with marbles, simple tops, and other games involving chalk on the pavement and small stones.

When I visited one friend’s home, he showed me dozens of his paintings and drawings that were stunning. What skill and passion, and who would have thought it existed in my community?

A kid in my building casually mentioned a way to keep rain from leaking through our window that we'd never thought of before. Many of my neighbors have been forced to find creative solutions to issues they face day to day.

Sometimes we think that people who are poor should focus on the basics before they seek to enjoy the creative arts or leisure. The basics are surely necessary, but don’t those in poverty deserve a break? In fact, I think that part the hopelessness of many people in poverty situations is that they don't realize that they are creative beings made in the very image of a Creator God.

I want people to have the basic necessities in life. I also want them to realize their creative potential that is theirs to express and cannot be expressed by anyone apart from them. Could it be that in encouraging people to explore their creative abilities they could realize that they could create a different world? Might the small creation of a dance, song, poem or drawing help a child with low sense of self-worth realize her or his potential to create more things that are beautiful and meaningful? If we encourage small acts of creativity, I believe we can help people to dream of bigger ideas that could not only change the situation around them, but help them discover their true potential and bring them more fully to life.