Dot Products Help Fight Poverty Worldwide

Hallie Darphin of Dot Products

Hallie Darphin’s efforts to battle poverty around the globe will take a deep commitment and much time.

It’s a huge assignment to put on her plate, but the 23-year-old Mississippi College graduate refuses to quit.

Her Mississippi-based company, Dot Products, is definitely invested for the long haul. The company seeks to use education to lift children out of poverty in poor nations.

Dot stands for “Do One Thing,” and the company evolved from one of Hallie’s entrepreneurship classes when she was a Mississippi College senior. Professor Tammy Arthur challenged her students to develop an idea and transform it into a business plan.

Fast forward to 2015 and Hallie’s business plan for Dot Products is achieving results, one student at a time.

“Our long-term goal is to help end extreme poverty as we know it today, and we’ll do that (alongside many other like-minded organizations) by helping countries become self-sustaining,” Darphin says. “By helping students receive higher education, we hope to develop a new generation that is capable and prepared to lead their communities to brighter futures.”

Located in Mississippi’s capital city, Dot Products maintains partners in Mexico, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. The company’s CEO and founder, Hallie reports there are 11 students enrolled in school thanks to customer purchases of the firm’s products and donations.  Dot scholarships opened doors for at least five of the kids to attend school.

The Jackson-based company sells journals, binders and recycled newspaper pencils. The pencils are the most popular item because of their unique design. Three new Dot products will be announced in May.

Another important date in the life of the company is the March 16 open house at Dot Product offices. It’s an opportunity for Mississippians to meet Hallie Darphin and hear her vision for the company. The event at 745 North President Street near the Mississippi Capitol. Scheduled for 5-7 p.m., the open house is a good way to promote the Dot Products story and trumpet its message.

While the plan for Dot Products began in a School of Business classroom, it was Hallie Darphin’s trip to southern Uganda during her junior year on the Clinton campus that inspired her dream.

While Hallie lived at a children’s home during her semester away from college, she saw struggles on the faces of poor Ugandan children.

“I met a number of kids who had living parents who had either given them up to live at children’s homes because they couldn’t afford to care for them or struggled everyday to afford basic life necessities like food and shelter,” said the Ocean Springs native. “They couldn’t think about the high cost of education.”

Initially, the Jackson resident believed she was meant to return to work in Uganda with children like the ones she encountered. “God had a different plan.”

Long-term, she wants Dot Products to open manufacturing centers at its partner countries to create jobs for parents of children they support. Dot products presently are all manufactured in America.

Mississippi College students like Ashton Ray, 20, a Dot Products social media intern from Orange Beach, Alabama, share Hallie’s passion and the company’s mission.

Last summer, Ashton lived in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala and those experiences touched her deeply.

“I saw brokenness, poverty and loss in a Third World country firsthand,” Ashton Ray said. “I would walk through the city and my heart would break for the people. I saw parents who had nothing to give their children. I watched kids as they sifted through garbage and made toys out of trash.”

Poverty cannot be ignored, the communication major said, because “Jesus calls us to care for the needy – He calls us to love as He loved.”

Ray and MC senior Hailey Elder of Tomball, Texas serve as the company’s two interns. More interns will join the staff this summer.

Born at the Baptist-affiliated university, Dot Products keeps growing because Mississippi College students, alumni and others seek to Do One Thing to make the world a better place.