She said making her own masks out of cotton fabric was a way to relieve the demand and help prioritise surgical masks for doctors and nurses.
“You can wash it every day and save disposable masks for the doctors and nurses, who are currently working very hard as our front-liners,” she said.
“This does not only protect ourselves, but also protects the community. Anyone can do this.”
Ms Ha started wearing and making her own masks at the beginning of the pandemic in March.
Ms Vence said as demand had risen for masks, she started seeing greater potential for Ms Ha’s sewing ability.
“Phuong was one of the first people to wear a mask four months ago when the first wave of COVID-19 hit – she started making masks for her friends and close family. That’s where it all started,” she said.
“With this current situation, I was thinking it could be a good opportunity to for the students, especially for those experienced in sewing.
“We might be coming up with a program with Wimmera Development Association, which we might be trying to help migrants to make their own masks.
“The WDA might be able to help in providing sewing machines.”
Ms Vence said crafting face masks was an ideal way to teach her students business and marketing skills.
“This could address the issue of it being hard to find a job at this point in time,” she said.
“The students have this passion of cooking and other activities they enjoy doing. We thought having a micro business at this time would be a good help for the multi-cultural community.
“It could be a good way to generate a bit of income, it might not be much, but it can help.
“If you’ve got the passion in doing that, it doesn’t matter if you don’t earn much, so long as you love doing it and see the benefit of helping people, that’s the biggest bonus you get.”
– Dylan De Jong
The entire August 5, 2020 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
