Mac Quarthy, a 32-year-old who runs a tailoring business on the Capitol Bye-Pass in Monrovia, decided to make face masks after his shop was ordered closed as the state of emergency imposed by the Government of Liberia took effect on April 8. Using readily available African textiles, Quarthy and other colleagues produced over 300 face masks that were on sale in the streets in less than a week.
"There was a shortage of masks and I had seen samples of face masks made of cloth in other African countries on the internet," recalls Quarthy. "I wanted to use my talent and locally available fabric to show that we can also contribute to the response to the pandemic while at the same time making little income."
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