Arnold Simanjuntak

Dwi Rahayu Februarti, a mother with hearing impairment, runs a grocery kiosk out of her house in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

After the government ordered all citizens to wear masks amid the COVID-19 outbreak, she struggled to communicate with her customers, because the masks meant Dwi could no longer read their lips.

This sparked Dwi’s creativity.

Together with her husband Elfiandi Nain – who is also hearing-impaired, Dwi sews masks with a plastic inlay to facilitate communication for the hearing-impaired.

Dwi posted a prototype of her clear mask on social media and gained a positive response. She began receiving orders from customers across Indonesia. However, she can only produce a limited number of clear masks for now. Backpain prevents her from sitting too long in front of a sewing machine.

Dwi hopes the clear masks would be worn by many people, especially medical workers treating patients with a hearing impairment.[yps]