She is  journalist who used to write for Newsweek. How did I even know or heard of her? Well it simple the internet. She is an alumni from Manarat Jeddah Girls school.

Her article about Manarat Jeddah /Manarat schools kind of fascinated me and gave me inspiring push to build a platform.

She writes on big political issues ,for example her article on the Guardian(2014) titled:

Why are the Arab countries silent on Gaza?

Her heritage is Malay and Trinidad. She grew up partly in Jeddah and London.

She was once “foreign policy strategist to rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.” according to Matthew Teller, a writer ,broadcaster for the BBC.

Well lets not go any further in her professional life.

Habiba Hamid is an alumni from the Manarat Jeddah Girls School. Her writing about Manarat schools and Manarat Jeddah attracted me as I was thinking in the same perspective. Other than that there were no information about Manarat Jeddah in the internet.

I found her article about a decade ago or more and the title went like

“What do US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s closest adviser, Qatar’s princesses and I have in common? One would think, almost nothing. But as young girls, we were all students at Saudi Arabia’s “

I thought very interesting and then I had no intention of making Manarat platform or similar. Manarat can make themselves.

I did not know Qatars princesses studied in Manarat.

Also

Habiba pointed out:

“Manarat sought to demolish ideas of wealth, class, race and nationality in an egalitarian project which mixed expatriates from Africa, Asia and Europe with Saudi nationals, with classes in both English and Arabic. Schools across Saudi Arabia, from Al Khobar to Jeddah, were built from the ground up with white-washed walls and cool marble floors. The daughters of laborers were taught alongside royals irrespective of race, class and wealth.”

I was like she is right. Never realized then and took for granted.

Anway it is another story that how I got started.

The Manarat Jeddah Girls school was one of akind always focusing in playing in the “offensive’ I remember My sister in school days was fan of Christian Amanpour . She looked upto Ms. Amanpour with awe and respect. Finally she went in the field of technology.

This is reason I wanted to interview Ms Ayesha Abdullah.

In words of Habiba Hamid,

“..is a tall, African American convert to Islam with a heavy southern drawl. Her stoicism and imposing calm got her appointed as headmistress in a Manarat school in Jeddah, where she ran a tight ship.”

Any way Habiba started an interest in me.Already I had a fb group by then I  guess.

Recently Habiba was nice enough to give a reply on Twitter to our post.

 Maybe in future and it would be interesting to all Manaratians.  I wish could write more on Habiba, but on  the internet not much information is available . 

Thanks again Habiba ,the Manarat Journey is started. nYou hada crucial part as well as others.