SUPPORT TO FRONTLINERS. Twelve volunteers composed of women and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) in Barangay Esperanza, Carmen, Surigao del Sur, join hands to produce protective facemasks for health workers who are in the frontlines in the fight against the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease in their town. The volunteers say it is one way of showing their appreciation for health workers who risk their lives every day to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). (Photo grab from Zairha Sarmiento Pude Facebook Account)
BUTUAN CITY – A group of women, youth, and members of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) in the Surigao del Sur town of Carmen are getting accolades from local residents for using their sewing skills to provide facemasks for the health frontliners in the fight against the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“We talked Thursday night last week (March 19) and we started the project on Friday. There were seven of us who started this,” Zairha Sarmiento Pude told Philippine News Agency on Monday (March 23).
Pude is an agricultural engineer by profession and an employee at the Municipal Agricultural Office (MAO) in Carmen.
Pude said she and her friends were discussing on how to provide support for the frontliners of their town who are fighting to contain the spread of Covid-19.
“One said we could produce facemasks since most of us knew how to saw. Everyone agreed and by the next day we convened and started the project,” she recalled.
Even with their talent in sewing, they initially encountered some difficulties at first as most of them had not sewn facemasks before.
“The first day was trial and error. We only had one sewing machine. Despite the difficulties, we were able to produce 30 facemasks,” she said.
They then borrowed hand sewing machines but most of these broke down, hampering their goal to produce more facemasks.
It was at that point that they turned to social media to crowdsource with their fellow residents for assistance.
“We told them to just donate materials and they need not help us. We were also worried about breaking the 'social distancing' rule if many people would turn up to help,” she said.
Pude also expressed gratitude to Esperanza Integrated School for allowing them to use one of the senior high school classrooms with sewing machines.
“That was a relief. How can we produce more if we only have one sewing machine? The school came to the rescue,” she said.
As of Sunday (March 22), four more youth with talents in sewing joined their group.
“We are 12 now working to produce more facemasks for our frontliners here,” Pude said.
As of Monday (March 23), the group had already produced 200 facemasks that will be distributed to health workers, police personnel, the Army, and other frontliners involved in manning quarantine checkpoints in Carmen town.
“They need facemasks to protect themselves. What will happen if our frontliners will also get sick? The efforts to protect the people of Carmen from the threats of Covid-19 will be in peril,” Pude said.
She added that the group will continue to make facemasks as donations start to arrive, particularly threads, sewing pins, and cloths.
Facemasks will also be distributed to clinics and health centers in the area, including tricycle drivers and market vendors in Carmen.
“Thank you to the people of Carmen for the support. In our little way we can help the government fight Covid-19 by supporting our frontliners,” Pude said.
The municipality of Carmen is a 5th-class municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur composed of nine barangays and a population of 10,347 people based on the 2015 census. (PNA)
