Close to 800,000 people in Kenya need eyewear to see properly making the new norm of wearing masks a bother.
As Kenya fights the Coronavirus, it is now a requirement to always wear a mask in public places and transport.
Many people who rely on eyewear, like myself, are already complaining that fog forms inside their glasses when they wear their masks.
Those who wear glasses know that a change in temperature such as walking into a warm room or lifting a cup of hot coffee towards the mouth immediately sees fog form inside the glasses.
This is the same thing that is happening when you wear a mask, improperly, where the warm breathe escapes through the top of the mask into the glasses.
And so how can you effectively wear your mask to avoid the fog?
The first thing that you need to do is ensure that your mask is worn tightly as this will help avoid the warm breath from moving out of the mask.
It is an uncomfortable feeling to have the warm breath around your mouth and nose but it is equally irritating, if not worse, having your glasses full of fog.
The second thing that you need to do is to ensure that the top of your mask above your nose is lying on the skin as much as possible.
This is the passage through which the warm breath finds its way into your glasses.
It is recommended that if you wear glasses, get yourself a surgical mask as it is already designed in a way that helps you achieve the best results in keeping your eyewear clear.
Most surgical masks have a foldable metallic strip at the top, which you can use to mould them around your nose below the rims of your glasses.
When well moulded, the mask will have no outlet at the top that can let the warm breath into your glasses.
You can use pipe cleaners also known as chenille stems or chenille sticks to achieve the same effect with homemade masks.
You only need to find a way of putting them at the top edge of your mask to act as stoppers.
If this does not work for you, the third and easiest way is to put a tissue inside the top of your mask, which would, in turn, absorb the moisture from your warm breath before hitting your glasses.
