ARAB INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FORUM Reflections on Leadership: My Life Story Dr. Haleama Al Sabbah 1

A Little About Myself  My name is Haleama Al Sabbah, I am an assistant professor in Public Health Nutrtition.  During my school life, I was focusing on my studies, my ranking at my class was always ranged between 1 st - 5 th.  My dream when I was a child was to pursue my education and improve my life and be an in-dependent woman.  I was working at 3 universities in the West Bank: An-Najah, Al Quds and Birzeit Universities.  I am the head of the Public Health Department/ Faculty of medicine/ An-Najah University.  I participated in many conferences, courses, workshops and projects in all over the world including Europe, Canada, USA, Africa and some Arab countries 2

I was born in Meithaloun Village in the West Bank. Meithaloun located between Jenin and Nablus cities Famous in Olives and Vegetables. 3

My Family I was raised in a great family with five brothers and one sister, all of them are highly educated except one, married and having children except me. My parents were considered from the low to medium socio- economic class families at my village. Although, my mother was illiterate and my father finished grade 4, they devoted their money and life in educating their children. 4

My Family 5

My timeline Born in Oct Meithaloun school Jenin High school Post-Doc Tufts Master: Oslo High Diploma Birzeit BA: JUST PhD: Gent

School Life My favorite subjects were Math and Biology At school time, I spent most of my time studying and working hard in order to get high scores and be able to attend a university and improve my life. At school I was very quit students and most teachers knew me after the exams. 7

University life  : I got BA in Public Health Nutrition from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan.  : Scholarship for High Diploma in Primary Health Care. BirZeit University, Palestine.  : Scholarship for Master in International Community Health. Norwegian Government Quota Program. Oslo University, Norway.  : Scholarship for PhD in Public Health Nutrition. Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC). Gent University, Belgium.  , Fulbright Scholarship for Post-Doctorate in Nutrition and research. Tufts University, Boston, USA. 8

Working life : I worked at many hospitals in Amman as a dietitian : I worked at Amman University as an administrator at the students house : I worked as a Director for the Health Services and Nutritionist at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah : coordinator for Health/nutrition projects, Office Manager for MARAM Jenin office, Health Research consultant, Health Projects Evaluator, Grants Coordinator, Behavioural Change and Communication Coordinator, Needs Assessments for Primary Health Care and Coordination for Maternity Homes. 9

: Head of the Public Health Department/ Faculty of Medicine /An- Najah National University. Coordinator for the Master Program in Public Health. Assistant Professor and Teaching for Medical, Nutritional, Pharmacological students and Master students in Public Health. Consultant and Researcher traveled to Guinea-Bissau, Africa working on Nutrition intervention study and the health situation. Researcher on Intervention studies to Prevent Excess Weight Gain in Obese Women. Country and lead Researcher, supervisor, evaluator and project coordinator for many international and national organizations (UNICEF, UNIFEM, CHF, ….) 10

My Strengths u I am creative. u I am flexible. u I am healthy. u I like working with people. u I like using computers. 11

Published Books at Amazon 12

“ Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, people can change the world”. 13

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