Education
She graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor Honours degree in English & Rhetoric and Professional Writing.
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Hala Khalaf
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Career
She maintains her popular weblog Rants and Rambles
Born in Kuwait to a Palestinian father, Hala began her journalism career in Canada at the University of Waterloo where she worked as a reporter, photographer, proofreader and eventually forum editor of the campus newspaper Imprint. She has a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) diploma in Piano Performance from England, and a Teaching English for Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate from Canada. Upon graduation, Hala moved to Jordan where she worked as a freelance writer for various national Jordanian publications, including The Star, a weekly newspaper, and the monthly Jo and Living Well.
At The Star, she had a weekly column entitled Street Rhythm, in which she commented on the cultural beat and daily life of people living in Jordan.
While writing is her passion, Hala also dedicates her time to teaching children. In the summer of 2001, she travelled to Lebanon where she volunteered for 2½ months as an English teacher at Palestinian refugee camps.
Furthermore, she teaches music to children in nursery schools and kindergartens in addition to giving piano lessons to young children. The award is given to the best article on diabetes and is evaluated by an independent international jury.
This article was also a finalist for the Inquirer Award 2004.
After winning the prize, Hala embarked on the adventure of her life – a trip around the world to eight countries on four continents. The goal of this journey was to interview 13 children from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, but all with one thing in common – they all have diabetes. The result was the photographic and narrative book Young Voices: Life with Diabetes.
Hala Khalaf has also worked for Aramex International in their communications department, and as an English Information and Press Secretary at the Office of Queen Rania First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Abdullah of Jordan.
Her father is a civil engineer and prominent businessman while her mother is a family practitioner and published medical writer They live in a large flat in an upper middle class neighbourhood in the capital city, Amman.
Her interests include reading, writing, playing the piano, travelling, photography, meeting people, and horseriding. Khalaf has also lived in Cyprus, Denmark, and Syria.
She is proud of her Arab heritage, and appreciates the rich culture.
Hala is a true believer in traditional Arab hospitality.
Achievements
Membership
Today, Hala continues to work as a freelance journalist as well as an external consultant for Novo Nordisk A/South. She is a proud member of the youth panel set up by Novo Nordisk to raise awareness about diabetes worldwide.
