We are so proud of Ranjeeta! She continues to thrive at the Tong-Len boarding school in Dharamsala. Her year end grade results earned her 2nd place in her class, 5th grade, with a 93.5% GPA. She receieved an award for coming in 3rd place in a statewide exam where she competed against 8,000 5th graders. 

In honor of Women's History Month, Dolma Designs and the Peace and Justice Store will join together to discuss all things fair trade. On Saturday, March 6 from 2:00P.M. - 4:00P.M. we will share stories and pictures from our work in India, focusing on the female artisan cooperatives we work with. We will consider how fair trade empowers women.

"Community cannot for long, feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers and sisters."
-- Howard Thurman

The world will remember January 12, 2010 as a day of tragedy. A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in the late afternoon, leaving, experts guess, anywhere between 50,000 to 200,000 people dead. Countless people are injured, without their homes, missing loved ones, hungry and scared. Each day headlines about Haiti crowd the newspapers and people all of the world are touched and want to help.

Dolma Designs is busy packing and shipping beautifully handmade goods for your holiday gifts. What better way to show your friends and family that you care than with a handcrafted gift that is also helping those in need in India and Nepal.

End Poverty Now: Help Us Build a School for Children in Need

In the spirit of the Holidays, Dolma Designs is raising money for Tong-Len, the boarding school we have donated to for 3 years. With 40 students enrolled, it has reached capacity. They need to build another boarding facility with dorm rooms and classrooms to accommodate another 24 children from the Charan Village. Join our Facebook Cause to help them reach their goal and to stay up to date on their progress.

Your contributions go a long way in India. Did you know?

$16 pays for a child's tuition for one month 

$50 enables a child to live in the Tong-Len Boarding School for one month 

$20 equps a child with clothing for a year

How I Became Involved with Tong-Len

When I was in India in 2006, I taught at the Tong-Len school in Dharamsala. It is the reason I started my business, Dolma Designs. I saw how vital education was for this community and I wanted to be able to support the school.

The boarding school was set up for the children of the Charan community who are so poor, education is out of reach for their families. They live tents. They have one water tap for the entire community and no toilets or showers.

Life in the Charan Village

The boarding school is minutes away from the village. The 40 children who attend the school are thriving. They have healthy meals and warm beds. They are engaged in school and their grades are vastly improved. Many of the children are participating in and winning statewide competitions.

In order to offer education to more children, Tong-Len must build another boarding facility. Their goal is to open it next year and to enroll an additional 24 children in their program. Education is the only hope to ending this cycle of poverty and to getting the children off the streets so they can live a brighter future.

The Tong-Len Boarding School: Making Bright Futures

How You Can Help

Join Our Cause

Whether you can give a donation or not, we welcome you to join our Facebook Cause to keep informed about Tong-Len's progress as we continue to watch their great efforts unfold.

Make a Donation

There are two ways you can make a donation to the school:

Facebook Causes

Facebook will give you a receipt for your donation that you can use to receive your tax deduction. You can make a donation for any amount through their secure site. Donations are collected by Bodhichitta, a registered U.S. non-profit who works to alleviate poverty in India. Dolma Designs is partnering with Bodhichitta to raise money for Tong-Len. Aside from minimal transaction fees, 100% of your donation will go directly to the school. 

Send a Check by Mail

You can make a donation by writing a check for the amount of your choice. Donations are collected by Bodhichitta, a registered non-profit who works to alleviate poverty in India. Dolma Designs is partnering with Bodhichitta to raise money for Tong-Len. Aside from minimal transaction fees, 100% of your donation will go directly to the school.

Make the check payable to Bodhichitta and mail to:

Dolma Designs

20 1/2 Ferguson Ave.

Burlington, VT 05401

You will receive a receipt in the mail to receive your tax deduction.

If you have any questions please contact Melinda Haselton at (802)540-0326 or info@dolmadesigns.org. Thank you for support!

After all of these years of traveling, I finally started a blog. I am very excited to have a place where I can share my experiences working with fair trade artists and raising money for the schools in India. There are so many challenges and amazing opportunities in my field. From the logistics and setting up a business, to public speaking, to increasing my knowledge about fair trade, I find so many opportunities to do learn and exercise different skills as I work.

Handcrafted lacquered wooden products are traditionally made in villages in Southern India, particularly in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The wood used to make our jump ropes and pencil sharpeners comes from the Ankudu tree, a local tree that grows rampantly throughout the region. It is a renewable resource, as it grows quickly and easily.

The Silk Scarf Project was started to help struggling rural communities throughout northern India. Many villages depend solely on agriculture to survive. The children must work on the farms and the fathers have to leave to find work in the city. This system keeps children from going to school and perpetuates poverty. The Silk Scarf Project began with one village and expanded to about 50 villages over a few years. Each village learns all stages of production:

The bus from Bundi to Ranthambore was crowded, hot and longer than we expected. My two travel companions, Julia King and Shaima Shahbaz, were up front with the driver - getting the real view of the multitudes of near-collisions we faced on the road. I was tucked between two Indian women in vibrant silk saris with golden nose rings and bindis on their foreheads. When we arrived to our hotel we were happy to sip mango lassis in the sun and relax under the shade of palm trees.

You can find Dolma Designs on Facebook, a great way to interact with the Dolma Designs community, to hear about upcoming events and to learn about new products. Facebook is also a good format to meet other people who share similar interests that are at the core of Dolma Designs. We reach out to those engaged in work to reduce poverty world-wide. This includes those working with fair trade, micro-finance to assist women in starting a business, organizations that provide education to children who would otherwise have no opportunity. There is so much good work that touches the lives of those in need. Dolma Designs loves connecting with all of the groups and individuals who share the same vision - a vision of hope.

When I went to India in 2005-2006, I traveled to Tashi Jong, a small village in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is near Dharamsala, the home to the Dalai Lama and many Tibetans in exile. Like Dharamsala, Tashi Jong is a settlement for many Tibetans and high lamas (teachers). There are several monasteries there and monks in maroon robes are seen around every corner. I loved Tashi Jong upon my first visit. Its people, both Tibetan and Indian were warm and friendly. I felt right at home.

On August 10, 2009, Burlington, VT became the 12th Fair Trade Town in the U.S. Fair Trade Towns U.S.A. was just taken over by TransFair U.S.A. a labeling organization that certifies many agricultural products from abroad. This week, I wrote a blog that is featured on their website. 

Dolma Designs is excited to take part in the panel discussion, Panel of Fair Trade Business. It will take place on October 17, 2009 from 4:30 - 7:00PM in Contois in City Hall, Burlington, VT.  The forum will include six speakers who will share their stories with Fair Trade.

Welcome to our new website! Dolma Designs is very excited for our new face on the web. It is our goal to bring you high quality, handmade fair trade products and to do so in a user-friendly medium. We hope you enjoy our easy-to-use new site. Here you can find our wide variety of fair trade products including jewelry, scarves, bags, candles, incense, tableware, wall hangings and more.