In the chaos of the 2020 pandemic, with uncertainty and fear gripping the world, I found myself uniquely positioned to make a difference. Healthcare workers, our frontline heroes, were threatening to strike due to the dire shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). I knew I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
As a tech enthusiast with a passion for 3D printing, I rolled up my sleeves and started cranking out face visors, a critical piece of PPE. But it quickly became clear that the need far outstripped what I could produce alone. So, I created a website www.facevisor.co.za where anyone with a 3D printer could pitch in. Healthcare and essential workers could list their needs, and our community would step in to supply them.
Overcoming Hurdles
There were plenty of hurdles. With stores closed shut, it was challenging to get 3D printing filament and the plastic sheets needed for the visors. After countless unanswered calls, I finally got hold of the owners and persuaded them to provide me with filament and plastic sheets as well as putting their contact details on my site for anyone who wanted to help.
I also made an assembly video to guide the community and shared the visor design files so others could start printing.
I printed as many as I could and even sent some to my girlfriend’ and her family, who was in Bloemfontein at the time.
The project helped a lot of people like the courier guys, who struggled to get masks during the lockdown. They were so thankful.
Catching Attention
The initiative caught the eye of Barry Bateman, a well-known journalist. He came over to interview me and praised our work in his video segment, explaining how the face visors were made and assembled. Even though I wasn’t featured in this particular video, his words painted a vivid picture of the work we were doing.
The ENCA Interview
There’s a funny story behind the ENCA interview. The night before, I’d been up late printing and ordered pizza and snacks, leaving my place in bit of a mess. I was busy making molds for other projects and working with chemicals, so the dishes were piling up. Still in my PJ’s and unshaven for days, I was planning to clean up right after breakfast. But then I got the call from ENCA to come over for an interview.
At first, I hesitated, but realized it was a chance to expand the community and make more FaceVisors for healthcare and essential workers. I agreed, and Barry said, “Great, we’ll be there in 10 minutes.”
My heart nearly stopped. My place was a disaster zone, and the thought of anyone seeing it like that, let alone a renowned journalist, had me panicking
I’ve never cleaned my place that fast. I threw breakfast in the trash, shoved everything in cupboards (yes, even pizza boxes), and took a quick “Puerto Rican shower.” I grabbed the first button-down shirt and jeans I could find and threw on my FaceVisor and mask. When Barry and his cameraman showed up 10 minutes later, I was so out of breath that they probably thought I had Covid. Two minutes later, they were filming the interview.
What was supposed to be a short visit turned into a couple of hours of great conversation. I showed them everything I was working on, and friends later teased me that I looked like I was still in pajamas.
Impact and Growth
Once the project got media attention, requests and offers of help flooded in. Sleepless nights became the norm, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The sense of shared purpose and community that emerged was inspiring. We proved what can happen when people come together for a common goal.
So many people pitched in, and it helped those without an income at the time. I’m proud to see folks coming together and printing for their community.
While it’s tough to tally up the exact number of face visors produced, the site received thousands of requests from hospitals, small business owners, and private citizens. From what I could tally up based on the website’s orders, we fulfilled and produced over 100,000 face visors. It may have been even more because some requests didn’t specify quantities, and many printers’ contact details were available on the site, allowing people to reach out directly without leaving a request on the site.
As the initiative grew, the site connected the right people locally to fulfil orders, extending reach and impact.
It got so overwhelming that I had to find other printing methods quicker and for longer through the night.
Scaling Up
As demand grew and filament and plastic sheets became increasingly difficult to obtain, I asked a friend to produce a new quality of factory-made FaceVisors, which could be manufactured ten times faster.
I’m incredibly proud of the 3D printing community. We faced countless hurdles together, from convincing stores to open their warehouses to sourcing plastic sheets and filament and arranging deliveries. But with the spirit of cooperation, we pulled off something monumental.
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