Mothers for All

The primary objective of Mothers for All is to develop a sustainable model of support for orphans and vulnerable children. Research has shown that any benefits a mother or caregiver receives by way of financial upliftment, education and life skills are immediately passed onto the children in their care - so that's what we strive to provide.

Mothers for All not only provides direct support to the caregivers of orphans in southern Africa, it helps these women build support networks and important life skills, and encourages other mothers around the world to get involved. Sensitive, responsive mothering is vital for a child's all-round development and success in later life - all children need this chance.

Our beads are hand-crafted out of all forms of paper waste including discarded magazines, cardboard packaging, calendars, posters and flyers. Paper waste constitutes a large part of our society's solid waste at 40% and our aim is to turn at least some of this into beautiful, desirable products - and our mothers into environmental warriors.

As our primary aim is to improve the lives of orphans and vulnerable children by uplifting the lives of their caregivers we need to continually monitor and evaluate our impact to ensure we are making the best possible difference. Measures are being put in place to assess the benefits to each household - and assess each child's progress.

From the start Mothers for All has been run on the basis of achieving self sustainability as quickly as possible. Like any business we required start-up capital but since we began trading in mid 2008 we have managed to double our turnover each year and will soon be covering all our expenses - and we are passing this business savvy onto our mothers.

In a rather bizarre but heart-warming development, Mothers for All is now training male and female prisoners in Worcester Medium Prison in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Over twenty prisoners have received training and are now spending much of their free time rolling paper beads in order to help the AIDS orphans in their community.

Mothers for All's tweets

Why the violence? Why the silence?

Monday, 18 March 2013 20:44

Hilda_News In October last year Hilda Amon, a long-term member of Mothers for All, was brutally murdered with a spade by her ex-boyfriend who had been harassing and threatening her for many months. In Botswana, as in many other countries, the frequency with which women and children are exploited, beaten, raped and murdered should shock us all into action. But Hilda's gruesome death barely received a mention in the local paper and we have to start asking why.

Hilda became the face of our organisation when her picture, adorned with the paper bead jewellery she became so skilled at making, was chosen for the front cover of our leaflet. More importantly she personified the aims of the organisation by seizing every opportunity that was offered to increase her skills and help herself and other mothers achieve a better life for themselves and the orphaned children in their care.

Monday, 03 September 2012 17:39

Thanks to the generosity of our donors we now have six vulnerable children and adolescents who have been able to return to full-time schooling or attend training colleges. And, as word spreads, more and more children who had to abandon their schooling for socio-economic reasons are asking to go back to school or get some skills training.

The children include Oratile, Keiterile, Onalenna, Neo Sekoba and Neo Jabane from Selibe-Phikwe and Oduestse from Bobonong. Oratile, pictured below, started training in book-keeping and IT at the beginning of 2011 and now works full time for Mothers for All. It is fitting that she is also the orphaned granddaughter of our very first mother to be recruited.

Wednesday, 04 January 2012 11:54
Mothers for All, which has been running a handicraft training project with male and female inmates at Worcester Prison in South Africa's Cape Province for over a year now, has recently received permission from the prison authorities to roll out a pilot HIV peer education and leadership programme for 12 selected male inmates.
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Mothers for All - feeding families

Friday, 09 March 2012 07:34
During the course of 2011 we taught 40 of our mothers living in central and eastern Botswana to develop their own backyard permaculture gardens. This programme will be rolled out to 20 of our mothers living in the Okavango Delta region in 2012. The bountiful fresh produce from their gardens has helped to improve each household's food security as well nutritional status, and has inspired many other women in their villages to follow suit.
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FIFA gives paper bead bracelets to their staff on World AIDS Day

Wednesday, 07 December 2011 12:08
Paper bead bracelets made by our Botswana caregivers from old FIFA brochures were distributed to 350 FIFA staff members in Zurich on World AIDS day. Football, AIDS orphans and waste paper do not suggest any immediate synergy but all three came together in a very happy solution, making sure that 2012 school fees will be paid and this year's Christmas will be celebrated.
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