Written by Kristin Volk

One of my biggest passions in life is traveling, especially to places a bit off the beaten path.  Even better if it’s a destination most Americans wouldn’t think of going to, which means a lot of developing countries.  In the past few years, I’ve had the great fortune to experience places like Cuba, Lombok, Cambodia, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, Tanzania, and Suriname.  I always avoid the tourist areas and the ex-pats, preferring to mingle with the locals, soak up the culture, and learn something new.

One of the things I’ve noticed in all of these places is the incredible display of creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness.  While you can find creativity in varying degrees virtually everywhere, the place where it exists in its purest, most uncensored form is in economically disadvantaged communities, including those in so-called first world countries like the USA.

We’re all born with creative tendencies – all you have to do is watch kids at play to confirm this — but most of us have a lot of it beaten out of us at a young age due to pressures to conform.  We’re told we must color between the lines, dress this way, wear our hair that way, speak this way, and so on.

But economically disadvantaged people, as well as those suffering from political and social oppression, are often struggling with bigger, more pressing issues than simply conforming. They are forced to use their creative skills to figure out how to make do with less, and in many cases, how to survive. Unconstrained by society’s rules and conventions, and driven in some cases by Darwinian forces, their creative freedom and expression are allowed free reign.  When you have nothing to lose, you’re much more willing to take chances and try things you might not otherwise.

Because of the unrelenting hardship people in these places must deal with every single day of their lives, they are forced to be creative in nearly everything they do – how they make a living, how they dress, how they have fun, how they get around, even how they exercise.  Economic realities have created a “survival of the fittest” culture that pushes people to do things differently, hence the incredible expressions of creativity you find in these communities.  If you think about it, it’s really a form of improvisation – making it up as you go along with what you have at hand, and adjusting to the ever-changing conditions around you.  There’s even a colloquial Hindi term in India that gets at this notion – jugaad, which can mean anything from an innovative fix to frugal engineering.

What follows are some examples of the awe-inspiring creativity, innovation, and sheer resourcefulness I’ve had the privilege to witness around the globe.

What a grind!  (Sana’a, Yemen)

When you have fewer resources to draw from, you must be more creative and resourceful with what you do have. This camel in Yemen is a perfect example of this. There is a need here to extract oil from sesame seeds, but no machinery available to do it. They do have plenty of camels, however, and the ingenuity to figure out how to use them to grind the seeds and extract the oil. The camel, whose eyes are covered with blinders (as seen in the inset photo), is tethered to a giant pestle and the seeds are put into a large mortar. The camel then walks in circles for hours, which causes the pestle to crush the seeds. The only maintenance this machine needs is food and water.

Namaste  (Paramaribo, Suriname)

Yoga is often seen as somewhat of a luxury — something people do to relax, de-stress, improve flexibility, and enhance posture. While most people learn to do yoga by going to classes or watching videos, there are many places where people don’t have access to either. But that doesn’t mean they can’t teach themselves, especially if mastering the poses means a much-needed source of income. This highly motivated, creative man has been practicing his moves for years, usually in front of sidewalk cafes, where amazed patrons are more than happy to pay him in appreciation for the impossible ways he contorts his body. For him, yoga is far from a pleasant diversion. It is his livelihood.

Mobile roasted nuts  (Damascus, Syria)

The mammoth covered markets in Damascus are filled with stall after stall selling all sorts of food, clothing, housewares, hardware, and just about anything else you can imagine.  But it costs money to rent a stall, and not everyone can afford to.  This industrious young boy rigged a bicycle with a wood burning stove on it, along with a supply of fuel in the back.  This lets him sell freshly roasted nuts in whatever location represents the best market at any given time.  Not only does he avoid having to rent a stall, he’s not locked into any one location.  And as we all know, location is everything.  Pure genius!

Disadvantaged?  (Sana’a, Yemen)

This young boy was spotted in the old walled city playing marbles using a manhole cover.  In a society used to computers, video games and sophisticated toys, this sight might induce feelings of pity instead of admiration for figuring out a creative way to make do with what he has available.  Imagine the skills he is learning that he’ll be able to apply to other aspects of his life as he gets older.  Not only that, while his counterparts in more “advanced”  areas are getting increasingly obese due to their sedentary lifestyles, he’s getting exercise from this “old school” form of play.  Smart kid!

Who needs a treadmill?  (New York City)

They call themselves the Bartendaz because, as one of them told me, “It’s better to be behind this kind of bar than the other kind.”  Just because you can’t afford to join a gym doesn’t mean you can’t stay fit, and these guys are more fit than any gym rat I’ve ever met. They rely only on calisthenics and pullup bars that can be found in pretty much any playground in Harlem.  Plus, they’ve turned this into a community-wide movement, complete with the slogan, “Health is wealth and movement is medicine.”  Kids are encouraged to join, but only if they keep their grades up and stay in school.  In addition to a creative solution to a lack of gym membership, this gives kids a way to express their own unique individuality through the moves they make on the bar as well as the creative names everyone is given, like “Transformer” and “Honeybee.”

Balancing act  (Lombok, Indonesia)

On the island of Lombok, where many live by fishing or subsistence farming, a car or truck is usually out of the question.  But there is still a need to transport goods from one place to another.  What you see here is one of many ingenious solutions the locals have created.  In this case, a motorbike has been rigged with a wood and metal structure, making it possible to carry what appears to be an impossible amount of cargo.  Just don’t sideswipe him!

Hot breakfast to go  (Sana’a, Yemen)

Street food is another place you see incredible examples of creativity and resourcefulness.  While it’s not unusual to see vendors in developed countries selling all sorts of food from trucks and stands, you’d be hard-pressed to find a huge open vat of boiling oil on a city street in NY.  Not only is this guy smart to sell this popular breakfast pastry – he had a line of people waiting to be served every morning – he’s also gutsy and resourceful to be able to do it with such finesse.

What would the Colonel think? (Paramaribo, Suriname)

In many countries, there is a certain cachet to American brands, and the former Dutch colony of Suriname is one of them. Along the waterfront in Paramaribo, there is fierce competition among the food stall vendors, and any perceived advantage might be enough to give one a competitive advantage over the others. Here you see a creative way one vendor is leveraging the Kentucky Fried Chicken brand to enhance his own chicken offering. We think the Colonel would approve of the entrepreneurial spirit shown by this guy!

Who’s knocking off whom?   (New York City)

Selling bootleg “designer brands” on the streets of NY is a tough way to make a living. The competition is stiff and the cops are everywhere, making it necessary to come up with creative ways to conceal your goods as well as your “catalog.” This clever guy has placed his brochure of fake Louis Vuitton bags inside a copy of the NY Times. But even more interesting is seeing the creative twists that are made on the knockoffs.  In fact, some of the illegal knockoffs are so creative (and wildly successful), that the original, legitimate manufacturers have taken to knocking off the knockoffs!

Riding in style: (Sana’a, Yemen)

Many people in this developing nation can’t afford a car, but that makes it even more important to make a statement with your bike. This notion of creatively customizing your vehicle is seen in every corner of the globe, where people use everything from tinted windows and spinning rims to custom sound systems and fancy paint jobs to put their personal stamp on their mode of transportation.  Resources may be scarce in Yemen, but sheep and creativity are plentiful.  Not only is sheepskin a way to make his seat more comfortable, it’s also a way to make his bike (and him) stand out in a sea of other bikes.  GQ’s got nothing on you, Sir!

People who face economic, political, and social disadvantage have to deal with hardships most of us can only imagine.  But these same circumstances push them to develop a level of creativity, innovation, and resourcefulness that we all can admire and learn from.  For me, they are a constant source of inspiration.