My name is Elisha Tshuma and I live in Gokwe, a remote area in Zimbabwe, with my wife and four children. I am 37 years old. I have been diagnosed with TB on three previous occasions but did not manage to finish my treatment as it was a long way to the nearest clinic. I was recently diagnosed with MDR-TB by MSF and started treatment on Valentines Day 2013.

I wanted to give up. The start of treatment was not easy. It was hard. It was really very hard. I experienced what seemed like endless side effects such as a bloated stomach, psychosis and hot flushes. But I decided to focus on the value of my life and what it meant to me.

I thought about my children growing up without a father and this gave me the strength to fight to get better. This is what I would like to tell other people who may be in a similar situation. Our lives do not belong to us alone, we share them with other people such as our children and we should never give up on them.

Pain is only temporary. This medication has returned to me all of the years that MDR-TB had planned to steal from me.