Beth Shepherd from London UK, travelled to Sri Lanka to follow her passion to make colourful eco shopping bags with women living in poverty, to inspire people to stand up and actively make a difference. Now after being inspired by Obama’s achievements she has decided to use her bags to spread her message by adding his powerful ‘Change we can’ statement to all her bags.
Bags of Colour eco shopping bags are bold, bright and loud, and make a statement towards positive change, representing Beth’s vision that each of us can make a difference in the world just by making small changes in our daily lives.
In 2008 Beth travelled to Sri Lanka to follow her passion for photography, with the hope that she would find some way of making a difference there. It wasn’t until her last morning before she flew home, that she came up with the idea for Bags of Colour. She had spent three months travelling around, meeting locals and participating in voluntary programs. However it was the project Emerge, which works young rape survivors making colourful jewellery, which really opened her eyes. After a day of taking photos of the girls she realised the power of colour in offering hope. Having discovered the wonderful Sri Lankan handloom fabric which is made using minimal electricity, she decided to return to the country to pursue her idea.
Despite coming down with a very bad case of dengue fever 4 hours from the capital and being miss-diagnosed twice, she managed to pull through and with determination and the help of a local family they began to find women in need of the opportunity, and quickly created a small center where the women could come and work and soon they had their project up and running.
‘I have come to believe that most of us are blind to the impact we create in this world, the foot prints we leave behind when we walk our path through life, or maybe it is easier to just not see it. However when we do take action the rewards are great. We do not all have to travel the world creating projects, the changes we can make just in our day to day lives, create just as much of an impact.’
After watching Obama inauguration speech Beth said she was reminded of her vision that we can create better in our world, and not by each of us waiting for someone else to fix it for us, but by believing in our own greatness and our own abilities to make a difference. So she decided to be bold and stand up for that which she believes in, to show people that when you follow your dreams, and that which you believe in strongly enough, we lead others to do the same, and there is no person greater who can prove this right now than Obama.
‘When we think of the destruction that has been caused on this planet by our greed and thoughtlessness, why do we think that we as individuals cannot do anything to change it and that its up to those in power, but we forget that if we have the power to destroy with our thoughtless actions then of course we have the power to create.’
Beth has now created Bags of Colour bags with the slogan ‘Change we can’ quoting Obama, because she feels so strongly in his mission to create change, in the hope that her bags can become a statement for positive change and lead the way for the individuals stand up and be proud to be bold and make a difference, and what better way to do it than with colour.
Her bags, which are stunning and unique, offer a novel alternative to using plastic bags, and are currently on sale via her website at www.bethshepherd.com. Each bag is slightly difference in colour combination, with each one being made in the homes of women in Sri Lanka or their center, and the story of the woman who has made it on the label. Beth is also beginning a ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ campaign through face book where people can make their small commitment to change, by putting it in writing for all to see. She is also planning to return to Sri Lanka to further the project and to offer the gift of opportunity to more who are in need, by setting up The Colour of Hope foundation.
