Dr Jin Lam, Assistant Professor of ITC, and her students of a service learning subject called “Community Engagement through Expressive Textile Arts and Fashion” were recently involved in the development of “Epidemic Protective Gear” with and for individuals who had previously suffered from a mental illness.
After the COVID-19 pandemic started in January 2020, Dr Lam collaborated with the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service to launch a campaign called “Cheer up! Gear up!” which pairs up students and service recipients to co-design and produce functional protective items. The students teamed up with the service recipients and conducted online meetings to understand their needs in designing anti-epidemic functional gear. Based on the functional needs and personal preferences of the service recipients, each team then generated a co-design brief of an “anti-epidemic functional design” and created tailored “epidemic protective gear” such as a fabric mask, protective hat with a face shield and water repellent bag, etc.
The students also video-recorded the sewing and hand-stitching procedures to construct the prototypes of the functional items, and produced video clips for the service recipients on the manufacturing procedures and laundering instructions. This service is not about only developing a functional product, but also transferring knowledge and skills. As such, the activity empowers both students and service recipients and helps to establish a mutual supportive network in the community.
