Firaoli Adam ’17 (left) and Yasmin Samatar ’17 (right). Photo by Tara Sloane
When Yasmin Samatar ’17 and Firaoli Adam ’17 graduated from St. Kate’s 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. “We have to start it for ourselves,” Adam realized. “We can’t just wait for somebody else to do this.”
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.
“Our 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,” says the company in their
The Mawadda team not only inspires future generations of hijabi healthcare workers, but reflect the mission of St. to foster changemakers and leaders who seek solutions to obstacles in any field they enter.