p/hop - knitters for MSF

Mary knitting at home on the outskirt of Harare. Mary (54) was the first person to be treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Zimbabwe. She was treated at the Epworth polyclinic where MSF has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) to provide quality treatment, care and support for HIV-positive and tuberculosis patients. “I tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) in July 2007. I was admitted and treated in different hospitals around Harare. I took medication for eight months but I never completely recovered. After further tests at the Epworth polyclinic, MSF told me that I had drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and that this type of TB could not be treated using the medication I was taking. They told me that the treatment that could work with this the type of TB was not available in Zimbabwe. After about five or six months, MSF told me that my medication was finally available. The medication could cure the DR-TB, but I would have to endure a lot of side-effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and eye and ear problems. I started taking the medication on 28 December 2010 and I would have to take injections every day for six months, except on Sundays. Although I encountered challenges, what gave me the strength to continue throughout the treatment was the effort made by MSF to get the medication for me. I told myself that if MSF made the effort, then so should I. Many relatives side-lined me. They disserted me. They stopped visiting me. But my children looked after me. Before I fell sick I used to knit and sew clothes for sale. I still knit and sew clothes, but now I also spend time assisting health workers at the polyclinic where I work as a peer educator. I also support DR-TB patients to encourage them to take their medication. Caption
Mary knitting at home on the outskirt of Harare. Mary (54) was the first person to be treated for drug-resistant tuberculosis in Zimbabwe. She was treated at the Epworth polyclinic where MSF has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) to provide quality treatment, care and support for HIV-positive and tuberculosis patients. “I tested positive for tuberculosis (TB) in July 2007. I was admitted and treated in different hospitals around Harare. I took medication for eight months but I never completely recovered. After further tests at the Epworth polyclinic, MSF told me that I had drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) and that this type of TB could not be treated using the medication I was taking. They told me that the treatment that could work with this the type of TB was not available in Zimbabwe. After about five or six months, MSF told me that my medication was finally available. The medication could cure the DR-TB, but I would have to endure a lot of side-effects including nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and eye and ear problems. I started taking the medication on 28 December 2010 and I would have to take injections every day for six months, except on Sundays. Although I encountered challenges, what gave me the strength to continue throughout the treatment was the effort made by MSF to get the medication for me. I told myself that if MSF made the effort, then so should I. Many relatives side-lined me. They disserted me. They stopped visiting me. But my children looked after me. Before I fell sick I used to knit and sew clothes for sale. I still knit and sew clothes, but now I also spend time assisting health workers at the polyclinic where I work as a peer educator. I also support DR-TB patients to encourage them to take their medication.
© Ikram N'gadi

P/hop is a fundraising knitting project, the proceeds of which all go directly to MSF.

As well as asking for donations in exchange for an ever increasing range of brilliant knitting patterns, donated by some very generous (and not to mention talented) designers, the p/hop project also raises money through knit swaps and knitting events.

P/hop?

P/hop stands for pennies per hour of pleasure. As you're knitting your free pattern, ask yourself how many hours of pleasure it gave you. How many new techniques did you learn, for free?

If you knitted from stash, how much did you save by not buying new yarn? What would all that be worth? What is the p/hop rating for what you just knitted? 10p an hour? 25p an hour?

There is no “set price” for a pattern. You can give 50p or £50 - it’s entirely up to you.

Visit the JustGiving page to donate to the p/hop project.

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