Determined to Provide
A mother’s relentless pursuit
October 20, 2018
“What do you want to do?”
“I want to work... and then I want to work more!”
This is a beautiful attitude to find here on the Thai-Myanmar border. The desire to provide, educate, and protect one’s family – while understanding the cost – is a big first step in hope-filled forward motion.
San Aye is the first mother participating in our vocational program called Sojourn Studio. To help care for her family, San Aye walks a short distance from her home to another local initiative, The House Collective, to work in Sojourn’s day program. There she crafts beautiful jewelry for buyers around the world and a beautiful future for her two children.
San Aye has been working with our program since February 2018. When asked if she hoped to continue making jewelry in the future, or if she was hoping to use these skills in another vocation, she replied,
“I love making jewelry with Sojourn.
Even if I had a full-time job, I would still make jewelry at night if I could.”
“When I’m making something new, I am always so afraid to break the tiny pieces of porcelain. But when I see the finished product…it’s a wonderful feeling to have created something so beautiful.”
Creating jewelry with Sojourn Studio and sewing at The House Collective provides San Aye with an income equivalent to Thai minimum wage. In addition, she receives wages designated to savings and education. Through the education fund from Sojourn Studio and in collaboration with The House Collective, she is now enrolled in literacy classes at Global Alms, Inc. and is learning to read and write in her own native language.
San Aye’s daughter just turned 2, and her son is in elementary school. Her story is one of hope-filled forward motion because of her relentless determination to provide for her family and their future together.
