Dulaan Project

Dulaan is the Mongolian word for warm. This project was not just about being physically warm, but also the warm heart of human love, and the warm feeling that grows from knowing that you have touched a life, even on the other side of the world. This project sought to inspire the generous spirit of the amazing knitting global community to help meet the needs of Mongolia’s impoverished people. Mongolia’s winter is extreme. It rarely gets above freezing temperatures on winter days, and can often plunge to -40°F at night. The capital city, Ulaanbaatar, is the coldest capital in the world. Warm, well-made clothing allowed a child to go to school or an adult to go to work; restored a sense of dignity; and, in some cases, literally saved a life.

This project was started in 2005 at the height of FIRE’s aid distribution project in collaboration with Ryan Morrissey of Mossy Cottage Knits and her cousin, Konchong Norbu from Kunzang Palyul Choling. Even though FIRE stopped shipping containers of aid to Mongolia in 2009, we continued to accept and distribute these amazing hand-made, knitted items until 2015, hand carrying them over in our luggage. The wonderful feelings these beautiful hand-made items brought to everyone who made them, distributed them, and ultimately received them encouraged us to keep this project in motion despite FIRE’s shift in programming focus.