Hi all, just a quick post. I know a lot of you p/hoppers and knitters wrote messages of support to the people of Eastern Congo as part of the Condition: Critical project. Well, we said we would deliver these messages to Congo and this video is the first of the messages getting there. Thought you might like to see it.

For me personally, it’s really great to see. The stories that came out of Congo during the project were very personal and touching. When we asked people to write messages that we could take to Congo to show that people were listening to their stories and thinking of them, the response was amazing. Delivering the messages is the last part of the project and being able to see the reactions from local people was really important.

Thanks for supporting the project and MSF, guys!

Today is World Tuberculosis Day. TB is one of those diseases which is generally considered a thing of the past in the UK, like small pox or the plague. Unfortunately TB is still rife in several countries claiming 1.8 million lives last year alone. One of the growing problems with treating TB is the rise is multi-drug resistant strains which are immune to antibiotic therapies therefore making it much harder to treat.

While browsing the internet I discovered there is a gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the TB bacteria, called PhoP. The PhoP gene plays a role in making TB more virulent. This gene could be a good target for new drugs. If the PhoP gene can be stopped from working, TB will spread less.

So as well as the knitting p/hop working to hard to stop diseases spreading through yarn swaps and generosity there’s another PhoP which could help in the fight against TB. I wonder if there are any other “p/hop”s we don’t know about?

Seeing as this is a knitting blog I won’t let my geeky scientist side get carried away. You can read more about MSF’s work with TB sufferers here

I also found some bacteria knitting patterns which make deadly diseases look cute and fuzzy. It would be fantastic if  this were the only way deadly bacteria existed, like toy dinosaurs. Maybe one day, thanks to organisations like MSF this will be the case.

Microbes by Clare Dyer-Smith

Knitted Bacteria by Beth Skwarecki

References and further reading

WHO Factsheet on TB

PhoP, a key player in Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence

Mutation in the Transcriptional Regulator PhoP Contributes to Avirulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra Strain

Pete, MSF UKs Web Editor, along with the rest of the MSF teams across the world, has been working his (non-hand-knitted) socks off since last week when the earthquake devastated Haiti so he hasn’t had much time for knitting his scarf (more on that later). However he has put together this interview he did with MSF surgeon Paul McMasters who is working at the Carrfour hospital in Haiti.

If you want a reminder of why we support Médecins Sans Frontières and the work they do to help people in need please listen to this.

Haitian doctor Adesca, Surgeon Paul McMaster and German nurse Anja Wolz, Carrefour.

Photo JulieRemy via MSF UK

We knit, we make beautiful tactile things, we enjoy it, but we also give that little bit extra with p/hop.

The atmosphere in the MSF UK office is busier today with a calm yet determined sense of purpose due to the earthquake last night in Haiti. You can keep up-to-date with MSF’s disaster response on the MSF UK website or via their twitter feed.

I’m sorting out new p/hop patterns which feels a little odd in the middle of all the serious work going on around me but I know it does make a difference.

So if you’re knitting while watching the news tonight you can know you’ve made a difference too as having money already in the MSF pot makes it easier to respond immediately to disasters.

Obviously MSF still need money so if you like our knitting patterns please download them and make your donation either through justgiving in British pounds or firstgiving in US dollars. Thank you very much.

Hi guys, sorry for the non-knitting related post, but I think this is very important…

For the last five months, we have been running a multimedia project called Condition: Critical which gives a voice to the people living through the war in Eastern Congo – people all too often ignored by the world and the world’s media.

Today is Mother’s Day (I hope all you mothers are having an excellent one) and I just want to ask that you spare a moment for those women in Congo struggling to look after their children, giving birth in really difficult circumstances and having to flee their homes with their families to escape violence.

Giving birth for the 4th time

Please read Congolese women’s testimonies here and then, if you are willing, post about these women or share with your networks. We just want their stories heard by as many people as possible…

Thanks for your help,

Pete