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 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.
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.
Our mothers have demonstrated that it is possible, with commitment, perseverence and a little ingenuity, to overcome all the obstacles that are usually given as reasons for not cultivating food gardens in Botswana. One of our mothers even put her seedlings and tomato plants in sacks of soil which she hung from a tree in order to keep them away from chickens and goats.
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.
Mothers for All is delighted to announce the establishment of Mothers for All Sweden by Maria Littorin, who has visited the project in Botswana. While the Mothers for All jewellery is now available at two Swedish shops - Svenskt Tenn and Accessora - the most successful and fun route for selling the jewellery and telling the story behind the project has been through house parties and office visits. This has also provided an excellent opportunity to get direct feedback about the different product designs for the Swedish market.
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.
We are delighted to report that Polite Dwanie Tukishi, 30, is our first mother to benefit from the 'Mothers Supporting Mothers' training fund. This fund was established to help our Mothers who want to go back to school or do a training course by providing 50 percent of the total cost. Money for the fund comes from private donations and the Mothers themselves who contribute to the fund when they earn over a certain amount from the sale of the paper beads. The day the fund was launched, Dwanie decided that she wanted to return to school, which she had left at the age of 16 after both her parents died (within a week of one another). She submitted an application and was accepted to the high-achieving Francistown Senior Secondary School, where she is tackling 10 subjects through their evening class programme. Dwanie aims to get into the University of Botswana to study social work.
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.