Accra, 11 June, 2020 / 11:30 pm (ACI Africa).
Members of the Congregation of the Handmaids of Divine Redeemer (HDR) in Accra, Ghana who are engaged in producing face masks that they give to needy members of society amid COVID-19 pandemic are saying the initiative is part of their Charism as a Religious Order of nuns.
“As part of our Charism as HDRs (is) to care for the sick and needy in our community, we were motivated to sew masks to distribute to our needy neighbors who might not have the means to own a face mask,” Sr. Gabriella Nada Nadine Yankey, a member of HDR told ACI Africa correspondent Wednesday, June 10.
Sr. Gabriella explained, “The ban on public gathering and the insistence on the wearing of face masks to protect people from contracting and spreading the coronavirus motivated us as Nuns to venture into the sewing of face masks.”
“We anticipated to produce and distribute 10,000 and/or more but so far within this period, we have produced more than 6,000 pieces of face mask and we hope to meet the needs of people especially our churches with the easing of restrictions where everyone is required to wear a mask to church,” the Ghanaian nun said.
She further said that the initiative aims at reducing “the spread of the virus and prevent people from getting it, help the needy ones in the community who cannot afford a face mask, raise awareness of the Congregation and publicize the other functions of our Congregation in dioceses.”
In his April 25 statement, the Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye directed that face masks be worn “in all public places where it may be difficult to maintain social distancing.”
“We have ten Reverend Sisters working on the production from Monday to Saturday for a 12-hour period with about two-hour break,” Sr. Gabriella said.
