BRIDGING CULTURES AND BREAKING BARRIERS SUHA AL-KHALIFA ’95 Suha in 2007 at a book signing for her first novel Existence
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creenwriter, novelist, and psychotherapist Suha Al-Khalifa ’95 was deeply impacted by her time at GDS despite attending only the 9th and 10th grades. She said at GDS she learned to value her own voice, women’s perspectives, and authentic storytelling. In spite of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 saw the publication of her historical romantic vampire fantasy Heir of Darkness, cowritten with husband, Richard Bellamy. The pair also cowrote Rashash, an eight-episode crime drama for the Middle East Broadcasting Center’s (MBC) 140 million daily viewers. Rashash, which began airing on January 21, 2021, is inspired by the true story of a group of young criminals who became notorious for their escapades in the Saudi Arabian deserts.
Culture Shock
Suha and her sisters Sala ’93 and Noora, daughters of the Bahraini ambassador, arrived at the GDS High School just after the Gulf War ended in 1991. With little English, their first semester in High School was “incredibly grueling,” Suha recalled. In addition to
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the language barrier—imagine grappling with Shakespeare when your previous exposure to English was imported American television—Suha and Sala experienced culture shock at GDS. “My Arabic school [in Bahrain] was very authoritarian with teaching based on intimidation and fear,” Suha said. “Students were not being recognized or praised for being individuals, nor were they allowed to think freely and independently.” She remembers her disbelief at being greeted upon her arrival by the GDS High School principal with the mind boggling, “Hi, I’m Paul.”
A Dream Deferred
“GDS was the place that taught me the importance of having a unique, individual voice,” she said. “The teachers spoke to me with dignity and cared to see me perform at my best.” Suha recalled drama class with former teacher Andrea Oram, 9th grade English with John Burghardt, and 10th grade World History with Sue Ikenberry and
GDS was the place that taught me the importance of having a unique, individual voice [...]”
credited those experiences with helping her to become a writer. “Drama class got me out of my shell, English opened my mind to literature, and World History offered me an expansive view of culture and insight,” she wrote. She recalled speaking in class about her familiarity with the kind of scheming and family rivalries they were reading in Macbeth. “Being listened to wasn’t something I was used to,” she said. Though Suha had to return to Bahrain in 1993 to finish high school, she successfully lobbied her family to send her to an American Department of Defense Dependents School (DoDDS) in Bahrain rather than back to a Bahraini school. She also wanted to attend
