Firaoli Adam 鈥17 (left) and Yasmin Samatar 鈥17 (right). Photo by Tara Sloane
When Yasmin Samatar 鈥17 and Firaoli Adam 鈥17 graduated from St. Kate鈥檚 in respiratory care and secured their first hospital jobs, as hijabi healthcare workers, they encountered a substantial obstacle in their ability to perform tasks. Throughout the day, Samatar and Adam were asked over and over again to tuck their hijabis under their scrubs collar, causing them to worry about their hijabis coming loose or disrupting the sterile environment.
Speaking with Muslim colleagues, Samatar and Adam found they were far from alone, as other hijabi healthcare workers relied on complicated workarounds to get through a day of treating patients.
The pair knew they needed to find a solution to this obstacle so that future generations will not experience the same discomfort. 鈥淲e have to start it for ourselves,鈥 Adam realized. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 just wait for somebody else to do this.鈥
Samatar and Adam went to work immediately in developing a prototype with a designer for a disposable, hygienic hijab cover. They held focus groups to get feedback from people in various healthcare careers and started the arduous process of securing FDA approval. After securing the final product, they began selling hygienic hijab covers with their company, Mawadda.
鈥淥ur mission is to champion and support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the healthcare industry by bringing to market work attire that meets both safety and cultural requirements and, as a result, creates a more welcoming environment for healthcare workers, their patients, and their families,鈥 says the company in their
The Mawadda team not only inspires future generations of hijabi healthcare workers, but reflect the mission of 亚色影库 to foster changemakers and leaders who seek solutions to obstacles in any field they enter.