When the coronavirus pandemic gained pace in March 2020, the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan looked particularly vulnerable to the devastating effects of the virus. Hosting 80,000 Syrian refugees in crowded conditions and lacking a supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were proactive in reaching out for help. In doing so, a remarkable process of technological innovation, resilience and empowerment has since occurred, seeing refugees collaborate with academics and researchers, including staff at The University of Sheffield, to produce vital PPE.
The project, known as ‘The People’s PPE’, has been crucial in ensuring that life in Zaatari can safely return to ‘normal’ through the manufacturing of sustainable PPE and hygiene products. Consisting of academics from The University of Sheffield, London College of Fashion and University of the Arts London (UAL), as well as researchers at Al Albayt University and the University of Petra, ‘The People’s PPE’ has been a collaborative effort that has sought to produce gowns, visors and facemasks for people living in Jordan’s largest refugee camp.
Two important figures who have driven this effort have been Professor Tony Ryan (Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures at The University of Sheffield) and Professor Helen Storey (award winning artist at the London College of Fashion, UAL). Consulted by the UNHCR in March to develop a rapid response to an unprecedented situation, their vast experience working together with the local community in Zaatari has been fundamental to delivering the success of the project.
One of the core drivers behind ‘The People’s PPE’ has been the level of agency and respect granted to refugees, with Professor Storey stating that intervention has not been merely “dumping ideas that we deem good onto the camp”. Throughout this whole process, the feedback and consultation of refugees has been central to the development of PPE.
This interdisciplinary approach can be seen with production of gowns and face shields between the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, led by Dr Pete Mylon, and the work of Abdullah Ibrahim, working in the technological facility at Zaatari.
Using the innovative makerspace iForge facility at The University of Sheffield, laser-cut and 3D-printed face shields produced by Mylon’s team were sent over to Zaatari, where slight adjustments were made – allowing for much needed visors to be received on camp. This was reciprocated in the case of gown production, where techniques learnt in Zaatari, like welding materials together using a prototype heat sealer and wheel technology, were used to develop gowns over here in Britain.
Environmental sustainability has also been crucial to this project. Professor Ryan’s expertise, none-more creative than previously growing crops from discarded mattresses in Zaatari, has been invaluable in the production of face masks. All five components, from the stitching to the printed layer, are being made from the same polymer, ensuring that they can be recycled. This has also increased durability, which is crucial for the process of washing, whilst sourcing local materials of the same polymer has saved waste. This has occurred in conjunction with an element of practicality, with Professor Storey stating that “you can make all the masks in the world, but if people don’t want to wear them, then it’s pointless” – something particularly relevant when embracing the importance of the wearing of the veil and hijab in the camp.
However, where this project has delivered the most is in the way it has empowered refugees in Zaatari and thus reflected the values of The University of Sheffield. As Professor Ryan summarised, “Sheffield University was set up by penny donations to be the university for everyone. This work absolutely delivers on this mission”.
In an era of pushback, ‘The People’s PPE’ has demonstrated the exceptional value of refugees and how their ability to overcome trauma and unite as a community is something we can learn from. It has been the refugee population on the camp whose ideas have been crucial to the formulation and production of PPE, gaining employment from this too – something assisted by a £766,675 grant from the UK government’s Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Newton Fund.
As the UNHCR’s designer in residence at Zaatari, Professor Storey’s previous experience at the camp has seen the profound impact that employment opportunities can have on refugees, especially women. ‘The People’s PPE’ expands on this mission, utilising the vast array of skills that refugees have in the camp to produce employment opportunities that will hopefully become self-sufficient in the future. Women will particularly benefit from this, as the work in Zaatari takes the role of motherhood into account, whilst seeking to afford women opportunities that might previously not been available, or pursued.
