Creative Women

It was hot ...

I just spent a week in Senegal; my emails home were short ... "it's hot, very interesting, too tired to write, more later".  I never got to write the "more later", so here's a short version of it.

• I saw the sun set over the Atlantic; here in the US the sun rises over the Atlantic, so having a beer on the deck of a bar, in Saly, Senegal while the sun setting, was a "must".  So was swimming in the Atlantic, no waves, warm water ... I knew I wasn't floating at Fire Island or in Maine.

• The desert ... the trip from the ocean to the desert, was just a two hour trip.  We traveled to Ndem, about a 3 hour trip from Dakar, but light years away.  The rainy season had just ended so, although everywhere we walked, we walked on sand, there were still signs of green vegetation and flowers.  

  
 Ndem ... an area of small villages that have been hit by draught, desertification, people leaving for the city.  Also the home of Ong Ndem, a non-governmental community of Senegalese and Westerners who are bringing water, farming, schools, health centers back to the Ndem area. And, they are bringing jobs  ... through their artisan projects (one of their job creation projects).  And that's why I was there, to see their lovely textile products.

Thanks to Aid to Artisans, a US based non-profit that works with artisans around the world, Ong NDem has created new products that they are eager to export to the US.  I was there to see if any of these products will work with the Creative Women lines and appeal to our customers.  It was a long and hot journey, but looking back, wow, I did find some products. I also have some amazing photos, and I met fascinating people who are spanning cultures, creating jobs, and resisting some of the pressures of a changing ecological climate.  

Take a look at a few of the images I keep in my mind:

NGO Staff and ATA Designer

Product Development

 

 

Still thinking about the NYIGF ...

It's been a few weeks and I've still got the NYIGF on my mind.  Yes, we still don't have all the Blue Striped Napkins and tablecloths that have been ordered (if anyone has advice on how to keep inventory, please be in touch), but I've decided to think about the more pleasant parts of the show and this business.  So, for the next few blogs I want to tell you about some of the people I met at the show and things they have "turned me on to".  

To start, if I didn't own Creative Women, I probably would never learned about Edna Lewis, the Grande Dame of Southern Cooking.  But thanks to Angela Hederman, who ordered 13 Striped Napkins for her friend Scott Peacock (another grand name in southern cooking), I now have watched a fascinating video about Edna and her influence on cooks, especially Scott.

About.com described Edna this way, "A tall, commanding woman, Edna Lewis was also a giant in the culinary world as well as in life. The granddaughter of freed slaves, Edna would grow up to be a great chef, culinary ambassador, and caretaker of genuine Southern cooking. She would inspire a generation of young chefs and ensure that the traditional folkways of the South would not be forgotten. More than a skilled cook, Edna Lewis touched the lives of those around her with grace and the beauty of life. She will be deeply missed."

So many women have made a difference; Edna definitely is one of them. I seem to be meeting a lot of them along the way ... Creative Women all over the world.  And, I just thought that I'd learn more about business when I started Creative Women.

 

Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis

Creative women at the NYIGF, terrific experience

Just back from the NYIGF (well I took a few days off in NY to see family and move at my own pace, rather than the show's pace).  Definitely our best show ... great location, good customers who I really enjoy seeing, and a chance to see the friends we've developed among the other exhibitors over the years. 

I used to be so nervous before each show.  Now I'm a bit more confident that our booth will hold its own among all the others in the Hand-made section.  And the press seemed to agree ... HandEye,an exciting and elegant on-line and print magazine featured us during the show.  And otto included Creative Women on their site during the show, with a close up of our booth.  Good press is priceless!

In photos, our booth seems to look like a collection of unrelated textiles, rather than the story I try to create.  But people ooh and aaahed; I'm happy.  Take a look at our site, if this photo doesn't move you.

 

Nice to be back in Vermont,

Ellen

Great Day ...

This morning on my walk, I was thinking about how I now need to create a Hassle List on our white board.  I believe that if I don't stay on top of my hassles (become the "squeaky wheel") than those hassles will never be resolved ... or at least not in my favor. 

On the way to work, I checked my IPhone and found out that the bank in Mali, which had been sitting on my $1600.00 wire for 6 weeks and not depositing it in the account of Cooperative Djiguiyaso, my supplier in Mali, finally was convinced the money belonged to Dyigui, not the bank.  Hassle #1 ... settled.

Then, at work, I got an email from my broker at UPS, forwarding Customs and Border Protection's ruling that I had complied with their requests and they would not be charging my duty on my current shipment from Ethiopia.  Of course, under AGOA they were not supposed to charge me duty, but they had the right to ask me certain questions: they did, I replied.  After more than a bit of wrangling, they agreed with me.  Hassle #2 ... settled.

It's a beautiful day in Vermont, we're almost ready for the New York International Gift Fair (BOOTH 6308); things are looking good.

Come meet us in NY ... see the wonderful accessories our colleagues make for us.  It's one of those days when things go right.

Ellen 

It's either too hot or too cold ...

Am I the only one who thinks it's amazing that the temperature in Grand Isle, VT (and Burlington, VT where Creative Women is located) is hotter than the temperature in Bamako, Mali or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia?  Next time I travel to either of these places to work with the women who produce Creative Women's textiles,I'm not going to bring them all my winter photos of Lake Champlain frozen.  (Yes, you really can drive your truck on the ice.) I'm going to bring them photos of Vermont at 97 degrees ... that's amazing!

Connecting to Afghanistan

In honor of the newest addition to Creative Women's line, our Khosh silk scarves woven in Afghanistan, I recently picked up a book called Come Back to Afghanistan, written by Said Hyder Akbar and Susan Burton (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-58234-520-1). Akbar grew up in California after his family left Afghanistan in the wake of the Soviet invasion. His father returned to the country as soon as he could after the fall of the Taliban, however, working hard to rebuild the country first as Presidential Spokesman, and later as the Governor of the Kunar province.

What began as radio documentaries of Hyder's summer visits to his father developed into this fascinating story of an American teenager 'coming home' to Afghanistan. Reading Hyder Akbar's account made me acknowledge how little I really know about that country's history and culture; even the recent history of U.S. involvement. What made the story work for me was that Hyder brought both an American perspective and an Afghan understanding to bear. I had trouble putting the book down, and while I can't claim an instant, intimate understanding of the culture, I find myself with a more immediate caring about what happens to the country. I feel as if I'm somehow rooting for the Afghan people to win out over violence, confusion, and chaos that have plagued them.

All of which explains our excitement over the scarves we're just beginning to get from Kabul. Azana, the studio we're working with, was founded by an Afghan woman whose goal is to help revitalize her country. All of their equipment and supplies are purchased within the country; the company is managed by Afghans; their weavers are women who have been widowed or orphaned (or both) by the years of war; both literacy classes and health care are offered to all of their employees. However distant we are physically and culturally from these women, buying the scarves they produce offers an immediate and concrete benefit to them.

I'm not sure that it feels like enough, but I am sure that it's a good start.

--Amy

P.S. More on Come Back to Afghanistan, and Said Hyder Akbar:

• An Interview with Said Hyder Akbar
• Foreign Correspondent: Said Hyder Akbar
• This American Life, 230: Come Back to Afghanistan
  

Welcome to Creative Women's first Blog

Welcome to Creative Women’s Blog.  I obsessed a bit about whether a business that imports textiles from Ethiopia, Swaziland, and Afghanistan really needs a blog.  I figured that people who love textiles, who want to support women owned businesses, and spend their time finding the beauty in life, wouldn’t be interested in sitting in front of flat computer monitor.  But here we are … happy to be sharing information about our wonderful business, the women we work with, textiles, and the fascinating experiences we encounter working between cultures. 

 

I’m also interested in what you have to say … about our blog, our lovely products, your work and experiences, and of course, your interesting stories about textiles. 

More later,

Ellen