Sew Masks Save Doctors

LABOR DAY SALE!! Use code LABORDAY at checkout for 15% off your order! Purchasing a Hockamask or Daisy Mask will allow us to continue to support frontline workers and the refugee community in Dallas! 👨‍⚕️🩺👩‍⚕️❤️

We hope you enjoy our delightful and meaningful interview with Forat, an alumni sewing associate from ! Joining Forat is her daughter, who fled from Iraq 5 years ago when she was just in the fourth grade. Thank you both so much for joining us— these kinds of conversations are one of the favorite parts of our job!🥰👩‍👧

𝗤: 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲?
Ruqaya: I was in fourth grade. Moving from one country to another was really tough. But I liked moving here. It was so different. I didn’t know a single english word. I had to speak to people to learn english. I was a shy girl and I didn't want to speak to people.
Our student culture was different. Our clothing. It was a lot harder to communicate with my classmates and help them better understand because I was different and I was bullied a little. It was definitely hard at first.
I was only nine, so the only thing I remember was my grandmother and their big farm that I remember going to on the weekends. Their farm with chickens and organic food that was a lot better than what we had in the city.
[I went to] Berkner high school. The elementary school in Iraq and my elementary school here were both small. So it’s definitely different going to a big high school.

𝗤: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿?
Ruqaya: I took a lot of art credits because I love art. But now it will all be virtual so I don't know what to expect. I was really excited about marketing and a fashion class. But it will all be online.
💗

[𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐆𝐄𝐄] 𝐩𝐭. 𝟎𝟐: 𝐙𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛
We had the privilege to talk to Zainab, an inspiring, kind and thoughtful woman from Vickery Trading Company. Zainab fled her country with her daughter as a refugee in 2008 and worked multiple jobs to support her family. Then, she found out about Vickery Trading Company, where she has found a supportive community of women who helped her gain a better understanding of culture and life in America. We cannot thank Zainab enough for sharing her stories with us! We hope you enjoy this insightful talk as much as we did. 💗
𝗤: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗩𝗧𝗖 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮?
A: I learned a lot about the American culture and personality. We thought all the women in America would not get married, have children with different men, didn’t respect relationships or care about anyone. It’s bad that we had that perspective. That’s why my husband and family didn’t want me to come to America because they thought I would leave him and get a boyfriend. I thought children didn’t respect their parents. VTC corrected my information.
Before, I was scared to talk to people from Afghanistan. I thought all these people, they were terrorists. But when I worked with them [at Vickery Trading Company], now all my friends are from Afghanistan! Really, I figured now that culture, the culture from my country and that of other countries are the same! The same, just different in language. I was so surprised. Even when I call my family back in Iraq and I tell them about my friends from Afghanistan, they say “Oh my gosh, take care!” I said “no, no, no!” I started showing pictures, showing that they are friendly and are normal people. VTC is a small world in which you can learn from others and teach others as well.
Even for the [VTC] volunteers, we correct the information for them. Because they thought all the middle east people didn’t know how to use cars. So, we correct for them and they correct for us. It’s very, very important. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈.

[𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]
Our Volunteers are the heart of Sew Masks Save Doctors and the Hockamasks program! Volunteers help primarily with the making of Hockamasks, a series of masks people can purchase to fundraise for our cause! Thanks to them, we have raised more than $10,000!💞

We hope you all enjoy this video of what Sew Masks Save Doctors means to them and how, as a group, we have helped the frontline workers and refugees in our community by making Hockamasks and creating cards during the time of COVID-19.

sewmaskssavedoctors.com

[𝐖𝐄𝐁𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐇] 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤: sewmaskssavedoctors.com
It’s official—we’re live! Visit our website now to purchase Hockamasks, learn more about our mission, request masks donations to your hospital, sign up to be a volunteer, and so much more! Thank you for helping us continue to employ refugee women and support health workers in the front lines! 💻❤️