Stitching to Fight COVID-19
Date: 12 April 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit all of us at different scales. The major prevention method for this virus is physical distancing. Yet there exist individuals and institutions that are running in these times to mitigate the dangers of this pandemic. Personal hygiene i.e washing your hands and usage of masks are the two primary precautions that these working heroes must use. The Government has also instructed citizens to wear masks when someone is going outside. This indicates a huge requirement of masks in near future, but the supply or production of these masks is very limited and costly too. The single layer masks are selling as costly as Rs 20-25 per piece. These single layer cotton masks are also not a scientific choice as they don’t have enough protection capabilities. In order to fulfill the local demands of scientifically viable masks, 13 trained women have been identified across three different SHG’s. capacity building of the women were on the guidelines to make the masks at the village level. The women have already stitched more than 1000 masks and are targeting to produce 3500 low cost masks. It will be distributed to locals as well as frontline workers like Asha Didis, THR Didis, police-personnel and others as well who need to regularly go outside. Another factor is that some form of livelihood can also be generated for our SHG women during this lockdown period by stitching masks instead of buying from any industrial unit.
Total cost of making one mask comes to Rs 12 /-. These locally produced masks have Jio poplin, livening fabric and fusing fabric as the three different layers. These are reusable masks which can be used post a hygienic wash.
Team: Ghagra