Dario Avila (LLM 2017) spearheads campaign to deliver 3D-printed face shields to health care workers in Quito, Ecuador.
By Yulia Nakagome
“Every superhero has to wear a mask.”
 |
| Dario Avila (LLM 2007) is helping to get face shields to health care workers in Quito, Ecuador. Photo courtesy of Dario Avila |
“Every superhero has to wear a mask.”
That’s the motto of a campaign created by Dario Avila (LLM 2017) and his friend Alberto Larrea who runs Jubilous 3D, a 3D-printing project in Quito, Ecuador, that was, until recently, building low-cost prosthetics. When the coronavirus pandemic hit Ecuador hard, Larrea shifted the project’s mission to creating and delivering face shields for health care workers at no cost. Avila, a high school friend, stepped in to help solicit donations and promote the effort.
The effort has become a new company, MONSTERHEALTH, assuming the PPE work and resuming its prosthetics output, as well as developing sanitary products for use in homes and physicians’ offices. Avila is the president, monitoring the company’s administrative and commercial activity, with Larrea serving as CEO and heading up research.
“Our main motivation comes from the lack of personal protection products in Ecuador for medical staff, doctors, nurses and support staff, who are our superheroes in this sanitary conflict,” says Avila, a managing partner at Alpe-Law in Quito. “My father, Dr. Alberto Avila, a renowned cardiologist, passed away last year, and he taught me the importance of helping others every time, under any situation. His legacy, his love for his patients’ health, is my biggest personal motivation.”
After the shields were designed and quality assurance testing completed, Avila got to work spreading the word about the project and encouraging donations, resulting in a donation of nine more 3D printers, and helped create a delivery network. Jubilous 3D delivered more than 6,000 face shields to hospitals in Quito, the Galápagos and Guayaquil, Avila says.
Face shields for health workers in Ecuador typically cost $5 to $70, depending on material and quality, Avila says.
 |
| Avila and school friend Alberto Larrea, masked and ready to support health care workers. Photo courtesy of Dario Avila |
“[Our shields] are lighter, more germ-resistant due to low porosity and they comply with medical protection requirements,” Avila says. “We have made them so that they can be disinfected, reused and safely discarded. Our material is 100% biodegradable and compostable which keeps in line with protecting the environment.”
Avila’s promotion strategy includes public presentations, TV, newspaper and radio interviews and social media posts.
Avila says the gratitude from health care workers inspires him.
“The most rewarding part of this experience is to see the hope reflected in the eyes of our doctors and medical staff. They don’t have to say anything because their gaze says more than any kind of word,” Avila says.”
Previous Article
