Visiting Sojourn Studios

I had the pleasure of traveling to Southeast Asia and spending time at Sojourn Studio last month. While I was there on other business this time, Sojourn Studio will always be close to my heart and a big part of Remnant Studios.

What is Sojourn Studio, you ask?

It’s an artisan community, under the wing of Global Child Advocates, created to empower, equip, and give hope to Burmese teens and moms on the border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). Due to their circumstances, these girls and their families are vulnerable to poverty, trafficking, and worst of all, hopelessness. 

Sojourn Studio is a place where they can develop skills, practices, and confidence to grow into their lives with hope-filled forward motion. 

I visited them for the first time back in 2017. While I was there, I had the honor of sharing my passion for ceramic jewelry as a teacher. I’m proud to say that these incredible young women were producing and selling their own beautiful work just six months later!

After such a moving experience, I couldn’t wait to go back! This was my second time to reunite with Sojourn after going again last year. I enjoyed spending time with the group of teens that meet in the afternoon after school as well as checking out the community space where the artisan moms work. It’s an incredible feeling knowing that moms across the world share the same passions and hopes for their families. 

I also got to spend some time with the kids at their Early Child Development Center. You may or may not know that I’ve recently discovered a love for drone photography. The kids were learning about transportation, so I brought my drone with me to show them this new kind of technology. Some of the kids were entranced by watching it fly around. Others ran away screaming because it scared them!  

Sojourn Studio is now an official artisan group with Noonday, which is super exciting for them! They also have new Christmas ornaments and really cute studs available on their etsy shop, so be sure to check them out when you’re trying to come up with gift ideas this holiday season!