Mina Chhinnotola, a single mother from Bhaktapur Municipality-2, used to survive on daily wages before the Covid-19 lockdown was announced to contain the spread of the disease. Following the lockdown, she lost her job, which was her only means to earn a living for her four-member family. As she stayed home, she felt as if she were falling deeper into the whirlwind of fear and hardship.

 The hungry faces of her children shook her to the core. The little money she had managed to save was spent on buying rice for her family. One night, before going to bed, Mina stumbled upon a sewing machine– wrapped in a yellow shawl. The machine was provided by Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) by identifying her skill in tailoring. In 2019 when she was supported with a sewing machine, she was identified as one of the vulnerable members of the community having the limited financial support to sustain. It was then that the idea of sewing face masks came to her mind. The next morning, she bought the necessary materials and started sewing face masks.

She used the money she received by selling the masks to buy essentials for her family. These days, she is busy in her tailoring work and encourages other members of her community to start something on their own. “Now I can help people just the way the Red Cross helped me. I can earn money as well,” she said with a smile on her face. With her skill and support from the Red Cross, Chhinnotola was able to meet her family’s basic needs. Realizing the importance of face masks and the needs of the people, she has been distributing face masks free of cost to elderly people.

Sharing her plans, she says, “I will buy more clothes and sew more masks. I will give half of them to the elderly people until the coronavirus pandemic is over.” She is thankful to the Red Cross, “It was with the Red Cross’s help that my family survived the lockdown. Now my financial condition is stable. So I want to help the needy.”