Hometown Clinton - Fall 2016

THE DOT SHOP • 205 W. LEAKE STREET • CLINTON, MS 39056 • 228-257-6871
It began when
Darphin took a semester
off from Mississippi College
to work at a children’s home in Uganda
in 2011. There she saw the effects a lack
of education had on an impoverished
community. When she returned to MC,
she added a business minor and was
challenged in an entrepreneurship class
to take a problem she was passionate
about and solve it using business.
Fueled by the children she met in
Uganda, Darphin created the idea for
Dot school supplies.
Dot, named after Darphin’s
grandmother, has come to stand for “Do
One Thing.” Every product funds half
a day of education for a child in Haiti,
Mexico, Tanzania, or the Congo. Darphin
says they aim to fund all aspects of
education, including teacher salaries,
supplies, and uniforms.
Dot started as an online store, but
after the urging from MC students,
Darphin began looking for a new
business headquarters. The Dot Shop,
located at 205 West Leake Street in
Clinton, opened at the end of May this
year. Set in a sunny yellow house on
the brick streets, The Dot Shop allows
visitors to learn more about what Dot is
doing around the world, meet Darphin
and the Dot crew, and purchase
products that directly aid children in
other countries.
Available Dot school supplies
include binders, journals, pencils,
colored pencils, and coloring books.
Unique, hand-painted binders and
journals have recently been added to the
collection. The Dot shop also sells items
made by locals and MC students, as well
as products from other give-back causes
around the world.
This summer, Darphin and several
others on the Dot team traveled to Haiti
with But God Ministries. They served
in schools and helped with the student
sponsorship program and were able
to see how Dot is directly benefitting
children and their families.
Darphin says economic
development is also a huge component
of Dot. They have been working with
local artisans in Haiti to develop new
products, such as a pencil pouch made
from rice bags and the gingham that
matches the students’ uniforms. “Our
goal is to have at least fifty percent of
the products made in the countries we
help,” Darphin says, adding that providing
jobs to parents is just as important as
funding their children’s education.
Other projects in the works are
school supply bundles, like the ones
at Christ Covenant School that have
helped supply weeks of school for
children in Haiti and Mexico. Darphin
hopes to expand this program with
other schools and maybe incorporate a
pen-pal program so that students can
connect internationally.
To see Dot making a global impact
has meant the world to Darphin. “It’s
overwhelming and extraordinarily
empowering,” she says. She adds that
empowering others is what Dot’s all
about. She looks forward to seeing the
kids that are being funded, graduate.
But Darphin also has a desire to invest
on a local scale. She says that opening
up a store in Clinton is a way to teach
people that small decisions can make a
big difference.
She credits the relationships and
support from the Clinton community
and from Mississippi College for Dot’s
success. “Clinton is a fun place to be,
and I love seeing this place grow,”
she says. “I want to give the Clinton
community an opportunity to give back
and be involved in what we’re doing
around the world.”
Darphin is excited to be a part
of what’s happening on the brick
streets and hopes that The Dot Shop
will become an event space or a place
where students can simply congregate
on the patio. “I want it to be a place
where people can come and hang out
and learn about the impact of small
changes,” she says.
Even the new space is a series of
small things come together. Darphin
says that God has grown Dot into
something she never would have
imagined and that he continues to
send new ideas through people.
She’s been able to hire a part-time
operations assistant, take on interns, and
collaborate with student artists.
“I trust God 1000% more because
I’ve seen him show up,” she says. “I’m
more willing to do the impossible
because I’ve seen the impossible be
done over and over again.”
Darphin says she’s still learning, but
that she knows she’s doing exactly what
she needs to do. “If there’s something
that God’s calling you to do, he will
equip you.”
The Dot Shop is opened Tuesday-
Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can find out
more about Dot and purchase school
supplies at www.dotproducts.org.
44 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016
44 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016 Hometown Clinton • 45