MTC Produces Face Masks in COVID-19 Response Initiative

​COVID-19 has evidently been hard on many communities around the world. Rural communities have not been spared either. If anything, many rural communities have been cut off from crucial, lifesaving information about the Coronavirus. MTC has sought to bridge the information gap by leading regular cleaning and sanitizing of communal spaces such as shared water sources, mainly boreholes. MTC lead officer Patience Magobeya leads this effort in Nhedziwa ward 4. To support government efforts to minimize Coronavirus infections, MTC has also embarked on producing face masks. This is in two phases. The first phases which ran throughout the month of May 2019 saw Patience Magobeya sewing 400 facemasks and distributing them free of charge to villagers, travelers she saw without facemasks at Nhedziwa Business Centre, fresh produce vendors, police officers at Nhedziwa Police Station and shopkeepers. The second phase which started in early June 2019 will see the production of nearly 500 face masks specifically for students, teachers, and support staff at Nhedziwa Secondary school. This follows an appeal by the school in a formal letter to MTC in mid-May. The 500 face masks will be MTC's contribution towards the proposed safe return of exam grade classes. For this second phase, Patience will be assisted in the sewing by a group of MTC scholars who stand to learn a skill as well as helping make their school a safe place for everyone when the students return.