Ghada Al-Haddad

Ghada is a graduate in English language and literature from the Islamic University of Gaza. In 2015, she was selected by the U.S. consulate to travel to Georgetown University in Washington, DC, for a leadership program for 42 days. She describes the experience as “the best thing that has ever happened in her life.” However, she faced many cultural barriers. Some people mispronounced her name, turning it from Ghada into Ghana. Others thought she was from Pakistan, not Palestine. She says, “Whenever I write for We Are Not Numbers, I find myself reflecting on the first day my feet hit American soil, and how uninformed many people are of our cause. That’s when I promised myself that our stories and narratives must be heard.”