My volunteer organization and products they produce to help women in Mongolia sustain their families in need,

1. MIM collection
Made In Mongolia, MIM, is a new range of hand-crafted felt products available at a
selection of well known retail outlets internationally. Working in association with Asral
NGO, MIM is a non-profit initiative that allows Mongolians to use local resources
sustainably to improve their livelihoods while maintaining traditional skills. MIM aims
to provide greater self-sufficiency to women and their communities.
MIM ethos
With MIM we are taking traditional felting and giving it a more quirky sophisticated
feel and look so that it is fresh and new for a customer who wouldn’t normally think
about buying traditional craft. We are building MIM as a brand and differentiating it
from other felt competitors, achieving excellence and selling into better-end stores.

2. MIM initiative
Made in Mongolia, MIM, is a Mongolian-Irish voluntary partnership initiated by
Panchen Otrul Rinpoche under Asral NGO. Asral NGO is a registered charity in
Mongolia, set up in 2001 to keep families together and prevent children ending up
on the streets. MIM is an important part of this endeavour, generating sustainable
futures for Mongolian women. All profits from the initiative go to support the
women involved and the wider community through Asral NGO’s social welfare
projects. MIM is based in the capital city Ulaanbaatar and in Ondershil, a remote
settlement in the Gobi region.
MIM Story
Through a partnership initiated in 2005 with Irish designer Pat McCarthy, MIM
grew out of Asral NGO’s handcraft training project. MIM is now producing
superior quality hand felted products available at a selection of well-known retail
outlets internationally. In 2008, the Irish Government, through Irish Aid, gave a
grant of €192,000, supported by a donation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama of
$100,000. This enabled MIM to move into a new purpose-equipped workshop.
MIM has thus effectively doubled its capacity both in terms of production and of
employment. Since 2007, the number of women and men employed by MIM has
increased from 15 to 50. In total, training has been provided to over 250 people in
Ulaanbaatar and Ondershil.
www.madeinmongolia.net
MIM is an initiative of: MIM has received support from:
Asral NGO
Keeping families
together
HH Dalai Lama
Reg. Charity in Mongolia No. 2231/1011502 30/08/2001