Knitted with Love for Ethiopian Newborns
Join us in knitting woollen baby hats for newborns. Your handmade creations will offer warmth and comfort to babies born in rural areas where cold nights are common and resources are scarce.
A warm hat can be lifesaving for a vulnerable newborn. And in communities where women traditionally birth at home without medical care, gifting a baby hat encourages mothers to seek a safe delivery with a skilled Hamlin midwife - potentially saving both their lives.
For many of these babies, this will be their only piece of clothing — an essential item that provides warmth and symbolises the love and care from people like you, thousands of miles away.
With Hamlin midwives helping more than 40,000 babies into the world every year, this is an ongoing project, and we’d love you to be part of it.
Knitted to date:
20,345
Delivered to Ethiopia:
19,095
Ready to Ship:
1,250
HOW YOU CAN HELP ...
🧶 KNIT HATS
Every hat you knit helps give a newborn the warmest possible start to life.
Each hat keeps a baby warm during those important first hours and encourages mothers to choose a safe delivery with a skilled Hamlin midwife.
Materials: Please use pure wool if possible, preferably in bright and varied colours.
Pattern: Any simple baby hat pattern will be gratefully received, although we recommend our simple Hats for Hamlin pattern linked here →
KNITTING PATTERNSThank you for helping wrap Ethiopian mothers and babies in warmth, care and hope.
✈️ FREIGHT
Help us get every hat to a baby who needs it.
It costs around 50 cents to package and airfreight each hat from Christchurch to Ethiopia. With a goal of 40,000 hats every year, these costs quickly add up, so we’d be incredibly grateful for your support.
Freight donations can be made to:
Hamlin Fistula Foundation
06 0817 0264043 00
Please include "hats" in the reference field.
Once transferred, if you're a new donor, please send us an email us to info@hamlinfistula.org.nz with your details so we can send you our gratitude and a receipt.
🧶 DONATE WOOL
Have wool you’d love to put to good use?
If you don’t knit yourself, donating suitable wool is another wonderful way to support the programme.
Your wool will be transformed by our amazing volunteers into beautiful baby hats for Ethiopia.
Wool can be posted or delivered to our Christchurch office, or dropped to a local collection point if there's one near you.
📣 PROMOTE
Become a Hats for Hamlin Promoter
Have connections in your community? We'd love your help to introduce more New Zealanders to the Hats for Hamlin programme and the life-changing work of Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia.
You might share the programme with knitting groups, retirement villages, churches, community organisations, libraries or craft stores, display our posters and flyers, or help us find opportunities to speak about Hamlin’s work.
Become a Promoter →
Send us an email us to info@hamlinfistula.org.nz with your details and we'll be in touch.
📦 COLLECT
Become a Hats for Hamlin Collector
Could your home, business or community organisation become a local collection point?
We’re looking for volunteers who can receive completed hats from local knitters and organise their journey to our Christchurch office every few months. Every community is different, so this might be through someone travelling to Christchurch, support from your local knitting community, or fundraising to cover the cost of freight.
Become a Collector →
If you’d love to play an important part in the Hats for Hamlin journey, we’d love to hear from you. Please email info@hamlinfistula.org.nz
Ready to send your hats?
Please package your hats securely, and include your name and email address so we can thank you for your generous contribution and keep you updated on our work via our newsletter.
Items can be posted or delivered to our Christchurch office, or dropped to a local collection point if there's one near you.
Our Christchurch Office:
Hamlin Fistula NZ
C/- Oxford Terrace Baptist Church Office
288 Oxford Terrace,
Christchurch 8011
Join our Hats for Hamlin Community on Facebook
One of the loveliest parts of Hats for Hamlin is the wonderful community behind it.
We’ve created an online community where you too can connect with other like-minded knitters around New Zealand, share photos, ask questions, exchange ideas, and keep up to date with programme news and updates.
How many hats are needed?
Around 40,000 babies are born each year with the help of a Hamlin midwife across more than 90 supported rural midwifery clinics, and that number continues to grow as more midwives graduate and return to serve their communities.
That means there will always be tiny heads to keep warm, and every hat you knit will be gratefully received.
Header image photo credit: Maheder Haileselassie
