Raghad was born and raised in Damascus, Syria. She studied agricultural engineering in college and worked with bees and honey production.

Often, Raghad drives the truck herself picking up donated furniture to furnish an apartment for a newly arriving refugee family. She cleans, sorts, unpacks, organizes

Raghad Bushnaq has been helping people in need in informal ways for at least a dozen years, but when refugees started arriving in the Washington D.C. area in large numbers in April 2016

“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

The wedding dress in slightly off white lace with floral motifs and tiny beads - for one, a symbol of love; for another, a chance to stitch a new life.

Omama and I chatted after she had changed back into jeans and a denim jacket; I wanted to know, of course, how she met her fiance. She giggles and tells me

Omama, 23, inched her way from the bedroom wearing her wedding dress for the first time. She posed in the living room light, turning this way and that, peering

Nader and his family are originally from Homs, Syria. Nader had a lingerie business in Homs since 1995; he owned a factory that employed over 150 people.

I first met Nader, 42, when KindWorks, a nonprofit I help lead, organized a welcome dinner for recently arrived refugees. Nader and his wife Rasha, 36,

An introduction to this years '30 days 30 deeds' blog, focusing on 30 stories of refugees I've had the privilege of getting to know, in Greece and in our own community, and the people who are helping them feel at home.Video: George Kolotov

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the massive scale of the refugee crisis. Sixty five million people are displaced in the world today. If displaced people formed a country,

At a time in this country when even the sight of Arabic writing can make some people nervous, Aadil Abedi, a London-based artist, is launching his Arabic

As many of us are enjoying our summer holidays, some traveling abroad, others staying closer to home, I have a suggestion. The idea came to me as I was j

Abdul Sattar Edhi, arguably the world’s greatest and least known humanitarian, passed away last Friday; he was 88 years old. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un

Ramadan Kareem everyone. The 30 days blog is back iA. This is our sixth year; I had no idea when we started this blog that it would evolve into such a tradition,

Abdul Sattar Edhi, arguably the world’s greatest and least known humanitarian, passed away last Friday; he was 88 years old. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un

Eid Mubarak, my friends. Hope everyone had a wonderful celebration. We had a family-filled, biryani-full, chai-fueled day -- it was delightful :-)I wanted to

Sometimes, for all that we try to make sense of things, reason defies us, closure eludes us. This has been a difficult Ramadan, with so much heartache from Istanbul

Happy Fourth of July everyone. Seems appropriate to share this post today, from '30 days 30 gratitudes', on coming to America, visiting Lady Liberty,

On our 27th wedding anniversary today, I wanted to share this post from '30 days 30 gratitudes'. Anniversary celebrations don't necessarily have to mean romantic