Mothers for All

The spectacular recipe bead necklace created by Sydney designer, Susan Storm, is now travelling the globe, raising money for Mothers for All along the way. Like favourite recipes that are passed on, so this necklace is handed on from person to person. It started its journey in Sydney and has since moved to to the UK via Perth... read more

Susan Storm, a South African born jewellery designer now based in Australia, has joined forces with Mothers for All. Susan is actively helping the organisation and incorporating our paper beads into her one-of-a-kind designer necklaces; her heart has definitely returned to Africa. See some of the stunning necklaces she has created using the mothers’ beads. Read more...

Our beads are hand-crafted out of all forms of paper waste including discarded magazines, cardboard packaging, calendars and flyers. Paper waste constitutes the greatest part of our society's solid waste at 40%. Organic waste contributes around 20%, metal 6%, glass 3% and the rest comes from other waste products including plastics.

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Welcome to the website of Mothers for All, a non-profit organisation that supports the women in Botswana and South Africa who are caring for children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. The trust's primary focus is teaching income-generating skills to the orphans' caregivers - mainly women, often with little means, often caring for more than one child - thereby providing a sustainable means of support for them and their charges.

Mothers for All also aims to provide a social network through which the orphan caregivers can share their experiences, challenges and knowledge. Ultimately, the women will be taught permaculture and food gardening, and will be given environmental awareness training. Browse this site to learn more about our projects, to read about the extraordinary mothers, and to buy our beautiful paper bead jewellery.

Peace Corps Volunteer joins Mothers for All

Saturday, 14 August 2010 14:24
Mothers for All is delighted to announce that Mary McGee, a US Peace Corps Volunteer, will be spending the next two years in Selibe-Phikwe working with us. Mary brings a range of much needed skills, as well as enthusiasm and a spirit of adventure, after years in public library service in California and Alaska followed by work with the US Forest Service leading tours in limestone caves and glacier cruises around Alaska.
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Papermaking workshops well underway

Sunday, 01 August 2010 10:38
Thanks to the Barclays UK grant, Mothers for All has been able to start rolling out papermaking workshops amongst our 15 active groups all over Botswana. These workshops have been very successful so far and will enable us to soon launch a whole range of additional products, such as recycled writing paper, cards, envelopes, books and gift boxes.
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M4All takes recycling into schools

Friday, 19 February 2010 11:13
No longer content with making recycled paper beads in their own homes, our Mothers in Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana decided to pass their skills and the concept of recyling on to children into local primary schools. This event was much enjoyed by both the Mothers and the children and we hope to make it an integral part of the project.
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First commissioned art work

Wednesday, 19 May 2010 21:19
Mothers for All delivered its first commissioned art work to the headquarters of the Metropolitan Foundation in Cape Town on the 14th May. The mission of this newly established Foundation is to help create a society where strong leadership and collaboration lead to sustained behavioural changes in the fields of health and education, with a special focus on HIV and AIDS. The Foundation asked Mothers for All to recreate the logo of their Live the Future programme using our paper beads. This is what we came up with, to widespread enthusiasm and acclaim.
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Successful fundraising event and auction

Monday, 25 January 2010 15:02
The travelling recipe bead necklace has begun its journey – a journey which actually started in Botswana where our first group of mothers carefully crafted each paper bead out of discarded recipe books before sending them on to Australia to be fashioned into this extraordinary necklace. Mothers for All is happy to announce that Robert and Merry Pearson of Narrabeen in Sydney won the inaugural auction in December and became its first custodians amidst a riot of drumming, dancing feasting and bead-making demonstrations.
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