Coomacka group making face masks for free distribution
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, April 23, 2020
Residents of Coomacka Mines, Region Ten, have embarked on a communal project to make facemasks for the residents of the surrounding area including Three Friends, Old England and Siberia.
The Community Development Council (CDC) engaged several seamstresses in the area to produce face masks for free distribution. Three seamstresses have since volunteered their skills and produced over 500 reusable masks thus far, which were distributed to the neighbouring communities.
Chairman of the CDC Dexter Harding, said that the initiative aims to keep the community safe from the novel coronavirus and is an added measure to the gate and a handwashing station installed at the entrance of the community.
The establishment of the handwashing station was also a community project that saw resident pooling their resources to procure the items, which included a sink and apparatus and a water tank, along with detergent and hand soap.
“Residents saw what occurring around the world and they were concerned. We want to take the necessary precautions and to protect ourselves,” Harding said.
Being a mining community and located in an area where loggers and others frequent when travelling from Linden to other communities in Region Ten, residents felt that implementing these precautionary measures are necessary to stop the spread of the virus.