Abedirwoth Mercy is an 18-year-old school drop-out. She makes and sells face masks in Parombo Town Council, Nebbi District in Northern Uganda. The Government of Uganda instituted tough measures in the fight against Covid-19, including the mandatory wearing of face masks in public places.

In June 2020, Genogen Women in Development Organisation (GWIDO), a community-based organisation (CBO) in Parombo, trained 60 young women and girls to make re-useable face masks to meet the demand created by the pandemic. The activity is part of their Voice-funded project to increase confidence and self-reliance among women and girls who are school-drop outs. Mercy was lucky enough to be among them! Overall, the girls have sold 320 face masks each thus far at Uganda Shillings (UGS) 1,000 fetching a total of UGS 320,000 (or approximately US Dollars 90).

Mercy is very enthusiastic about making face masks. It has greatly supplemented the products from her tailoring business and led to a boost in her income immediately following the training. When asked about the training, Mercy had this to say:

“When I was invited for the training by GWIDO, I could not believe that something good could come out of the Covid-19 pandemic but I am glad that I am now making money out of the situation. The training has enabled me to make over 60,000 thousand Uganda shillings from selling face masks in just three weeks.”

Mercy Abedirworth