The Takoradi Technical University and a group of Alumni are expected to share thousands of Nose Masks to the people of Takoradi on Tuesday as part of efforts to support the prevention and spread of the COVID-19 following government appeal for all stakeholders support.
The project started on Friday 3rd April at the school of Applied Arts’ fashion department and ended on Friday 10th April.
The project which is an initiative of some group of Alumni led by Danny Mcell was supported by the Dean of Applied arts, Prof. Richard Acquaye, through the provision of a lab, fabrics and water as well as other supports from donors that also came in the form of fabrics , water and cash.
The nose mask is expected to be distributed to hospitals, markets, media houses and some identifiable groups within Takoradi.
There were also 8 volunteers who also supported the sowing of the nose masks at the Takoradi Technical University’s campus.
Beachfmonline interacted with Danny Mcell, leader of the Alumni group who initiated the project to find the motivation behind the initiative.
“The motivation behind it is that it’ s just how we as designers and people in art can also help in the fight of the corona virus.
I was beating myself on why I was not a doctor or a nurse to be on the front line to help fight this , then my pastor told me I can help if I want to do so, I thought of what I could do best and how can I use it to help.I started researching and found out that even a locally home made masks can be good enough to help i.e. the face mask project: save a 1000, one mask at a time with the hashtag #Masks4all ( from a video I had seen previously from other countries who have tried making some masks and it was helping them).
I shared this information to all my designer friends in and out of Takoradi ,
soon my friends from Accra started embarking on making free masks to share to the public so did other few designers in cape and in kumasi” .
He went ahead to caution the general public to make maximum use of the nose mask in other to prevent the spread of the virus
“This is the little we can do to help preserve lives in the community. Ones everyone gets their masks no one should go out without a face mask on ,with that you protect me , and I protect you. The mask I designed were in two basic designs, one in the design of the surgical masks for our health workers , but this is a double layer fabric with a pocket at the top you can put in an extra filter. The second one is a style shaped to keep the fabric a little away from your nose with the shaping that sits on your face, both held to your face by elastic bands or strings to tie to your face , with this little I hope we can help fight this virus and we protect each other from ourselves and stop the spread .
According to the Dean of Applied Arts, a press conference is expected to happen on Monday after which the products could be shared.
“Well, anyways I just spoke to the dean
and he’s telling me there will be media coverage on Monday after which we can share”
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has called on stakeholders in the country to support the government Effort towards fighting the dreadful Coronavirus
Story by Kwame Offei
