Productive Fun

You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little excited.

Tomorrow, I will be teaching a group of girls to make some cards that I designed (see below)… not because I’m an awesome card maker, but because I was just at the right place at the right time.

“Slum light” (terrible name, I know) is a card-making project begun by Servants to Asia’s Urban Poor in the Chbaar Ambow district. It provides work to a number of girls from the local slum area, selling the cards abroad through various volunteers who on-sell them in churches etc.

All of Servants' projects (as well as Slum Light) are now entirely Khmer run with various expat advisors from the Servants team. One of these advisors was working on developing some new, fresh ideas for the cards. My interest was sparked and she was kind enough to let me visit the Centre. From then, I was hooked and a bizarre transformation has occurred.

My normally pink and blue world has given way to greens, purples, browns and (horrors) orange! Paper, ribbons, stamps and cutting instruments actually excite me. The only woman in the world who hates shopping (me) is spending hours at the local market looking for paper, chatting with the sellers while my little Lion cub sits patiently in the backpack.

Apart from being a part-time, creative outlet that I can do at home, I love it because I finally have an excuse to play. I see it as “productive fun” with a wider benefit beyond myself. (Velociraptor who sells me his paintings to send to grandparents thinks I am being incredibly generous.)

However, the benefit it yet to be seen as we wait to find out if anyone actually buys it!

But I have plenty more designs, loads of business ideas and still much passion. Who would have ever thought??