Valérie Berta

My name is Safa Mohameed and I am 28 years old.

I was born in Mosul, Iraq. I arrived in the United State in 2015, with my husband and our kids. We came as refugees, due to the bad situation that developed after the war in Iraq in 2003. I have been living in Missouri for the past five years.  

When I left Iraq I left everything with it. I left my extended family, my friends, my house and my dreams back home in Iraq.  It was a very hard decision for us. It wasn’t easy to start a new life in this country, to start from the beginning, building our new life, meeting new friends.  

We have been very busy in the past five years between studying, working, dealing with life matters.  Sewing is one of the things that I love to do. So now I’ve started on the first step to fulfill my dream to be a fashion designer. When I first came to the U.S. I couldn’t find the styles that I was looking for or at least something like what I used to wear when I was back home, and that’s when the idea came to my mind to open my own business. I opened an online Arabic clothing boutique that I plan to open to the public soon. In my business I create new clothing styles to show what people in my culture wear and what I’m capable of doing. 

I will keep on working and never give up.