TURA: ‘Necessity is the mother of inventions’ goes the saying.
The widespread demand for face masks and the near total unavailability of the same has left the people of Garo Hills worried in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
With no fresh supply of surgical gloves and face masks coming in due to the high demand by the medical fraternity, the people are being forced to improvise.
The Catholic Church in Garo Hills has also stepped in to do their bid and has set up three centres to begin manufacturing face masks, which it plans to distribute to the needy in vulnerable areas.
Nuns and young convent girls have been busy behind sewing machines preparing three-layered face masks out of cloth material.
Though these masks cannot give foolproof protection from the virus, yet it is one of the first lines of defence against the virus.
While it may seem small, yet dozens of these face masks are being manufactured every day, since last week, at Tura’s Auxilium convent and Tura Montfort Centre and St. Peter’s church parish at Purakhasia border village of South West Garo Hills.
“We will try and provide these masks to the most vulnerable who cannot afford to have one,” informed Auxiliary Bishop, Fr CJ Jose.
The church has also mobilised its resources and started providing relief to the needy.
As many as 610 poor families residing in 42 villages on the border region of Purakhasia were provided rice as relief by the church in the last few days.
Besides ration, villagers are also being given awareness on how to use face masks, maintaining basic hygiene by washing hands frequently and the means to prevent getting infected or even transmitting the disease to others.
