"It's in my blood" (6 of 6)

“I’m very happy, very very happy,” Nader tells me when I ask him what it feels like to make his first wedding dress in the US. “If you take a blood test from me, you’ll see making dresses is in my blood,” he says in Arabic. “I feel like I’ve done something, even if it’s just a start.”I went to meet Nader a few days before Omama’s wedding, in his two bedroom lower level apartment in a complex in Landover, MD, where many refugees live. Omama was there for her final fitting. She loved the dress, and asked Nader to cut some fabric from her matching hijab so it wouldn't feel so heavy. He meticulously measured, cut, stitched, and ironed, on top of a prayer mat on the living room floor.Nader’s goal is to have a wedding dress and lingerie factory in the US, just like he did in Syria. He hopes this dress is the first step in achieving that dream. “I came here not to rely on someone else, but to rely on myself and on my work,” he says.(6 of 6)Photo: George Kolotov    Mozaic, a nonprofit based in Virginia and run completely by volunteers, is supporting Nader's dressmaking and tailoring efforts, and others like him. Please learn more about their work to help refugees and donate to their efforts on their website: http://www.mozaicinc.org