Olivia Johnson – Creating colourful, reusable masks
A twinkle in her eye and a warm smile on her face, seamstress Olivia Johnson has been a proud member of the Allman Town community for over 30 years. The nimble craft woman recently turned her hand to something new — creating colourful, reusable, non-medical cloth masks.
Johnson, 63, is one of 20 artisans engaged by Kingston Creative for their Masks for Downtown project. With many downtown communities being seriously affected by the pandemic, prices are high, and with unemployment increasing, masks are not an easy commodity for all people. Together with Kingston Creative and their sponsors — the Digicel Foundation, Grace and Staff Foundation and Fight for Peace — Johnson has contributed to making masks available for over 2,000 people in downtown Kingston. The initiative has also offered a source of income for skilled workers.
As an older woman living with diabetes, Johnson knows she is among the more vulnerable residents. Since COVID-19 came to Jamaica’s shores, she’s been working at home. Hunched over her Singer sewing machine, her seven-year-old grandson stays home with her as he does online classes. He makes sure the entire family is practising social distancing and sanitisation — keeping grandma safe.
“He loves to use his own personal hand sanitiser, and reminds me to use my own,” Johnson laughed.
Johnson’s daughter, a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, and her fiancé, also live at the cozy Allman Town home. With two other grandchildren overseas, Johnson hopes for the pandemic to end soon.
Johnson made her first trip to church since the lockdown — attending service at the Apostolic Church of Jamaica Bethel Temple in Kingston Gardens. She was happy to see the congregation again, and proud that they were all practising social distancing.
Looking to the future, Johnson is optimistic. When asked how she saw her business progressing as things open up, she responded, “I may just continue making masks.”
Business has been good for the Manchester-born craftswoman, who currently has orders to fill. She’s also looking forward to participating in Kingston Creative’s monthly Downtown Artisan Market after COVID-19. She believes this will boost her sales, expand her customer base — and help to give her new creative ideas.
