Chinmayee

A wise man once said, "You're either part of the problem or part of the solution" and looking at Chinamayee Kusnur's story, we can say that she is definitely a part of the solution.
Chinamayee, a student of the Simon Fraser University in Canada had to return home mid-sem in March due to the Covid-19 outbreak. On her way back home from Vancouver, she witnessed a shortage of face masks here. She saw that the underprivileged were unable to procure masks for themselves and their loved ones because of this shortage. That's when the idea of 'KHADI KAVACH', a hand-spun and woven cloth face mask, struck her.
The main reasons behind choosing Khadi were: it's durable, scalable, washable and it aligns with sustainability, reusability as well as it allows air to permeate.
They began with a crowdfunding campaign, to generate the funds for production, through 'Ketto' and successfully managed to create a pool of Rs.10,000/-
With that the production started with an idea to generate employment and aid to self-help groups, in her native place Dharwad, in northern Karnataka.
Along with her cousin Nachiket Jamadar, who handled the logistics, she has distributed thousands of Khadi Kavach masks to the Indian Army, Mumbai Police and other security personnel, without forgetting the underprivileged.
100% proceeds collected from the selling of these 'Kavachs' are used in the production and the distribution of more such masks to the needy.
She says that it's only the beginning and they have no plans of stopping, all while expressing her deepest gratitude for her mother, for her support, and her father for enabling and boosting the campaign.