Meet the fashion guru from Kibra who is making homemade face masks for his slum community

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When night falls, he sits behind his sewing machine. Drawing patterns, carefully sorting out pieces of fabrics then getting to his main work of sewing homemade face masks.

David Avido, founder of Lookslike Avido Fashion brand, has taken matters into his hands to help his community tackle the Coronavirus pandemic by crafting homemade masks and distributing them for free to the public.

David who was born and raised in Kibra in Kenya, decided to sew the homemade masks after President Uhuru Kenyatta officially announced the first case of the Covid-19 disease in Kenya. The announcement sent Kenyans into a shopping frenzy , clearing shelves, some hoarding. Having understood the severity and unpredictability of this disease, David thought about his community of slum dwellers who survive from hand to mouth. Uncertain of where their next meal will be.

"People were buying lots of tissues and hand sanitizers for themselves.  I thought this people can be able to buy all these for themselves. What about the slum dwellers? A person earning Ksh 400 a day will be torn between buying a sanitizer, toilet paper and food for his family. It's tough for them.  That is why I decided to help people from my community because they inspire me," Avido tells me.

Standing in the gap

The former construction worker understands best the daily struggles of slum dwellers having grown up in the slum,dropped from school in form one for lack of school fees and taking up menial jobs to support his unemployed mother and three siblings. "The government is telling people to self isolate which is a good thing but is silent on putting up an economic package to cushion daily wage earners. Faced by the threat of lack and hunger, some of them are still going to work.  By providing them with these masks, I can at least guarantee their safety albeit in a small way," he says.

The sewer tells me that he is using left over Ankara fabric,thread and elastic from his previous sewing jobs to make the face masks. "I'm not able to buy lots of fabrics to make masks for everyone. But I'm trying the best I can by using what I already have." It takes about eight minutes to sew one mask. In a day Avido together with his two other volunteers make up to 400 masks. Since he embarked on the initiative he has distributed At least three thousand masks. The colorful masks are reusable and needs constant cleaning.

After sewing the masks,  Avido with his team of volunteers take the masks to strategic collection points and have people collect them from there. He distributes them to the general public including shop owners,  motorcycle operators, bus operators, cart pushers, roadside kiosks owners and ordinary citizens.  "The slum is very populated. You have a family of more that eight people living together. If one catches the virus, it is going to spread to the rest very fast.  That's why as I distribute these masks, I'm also emphasising on general precaution measures," he says.

There is a whole debate on the efficacy of homemade face masks read here and findings suggest that a homemade mask should only be considered as a last resort to prevent droplet transmission from infected individuals, but it would be better than no protection.

Here are the masks he will distribute today.

It's no time to be selfish

Avido plans to make homemade masks and distribute them to traffic police. He says that he is partnering with Uweza Kenya, a local non-governmental organization that empowers Kenyan children and youth to pursue a path to a better future through the discovery and development of their talents and abilities,  to make about five thousand masks for distribution.

“It makes me feel great that I’m able to help my community who have no ability to buy a mask, or might not even know where to buy one. Let us stand up for each other. Use your craft to make a difference and support in the smallest way to help us fight this pandemic" says Avido.