Human Rights Internship

My name is Linda, I’m 19 and I’m from Italy. I study political science and I therefore decided to apply for the Human Rights Internship here at the Excellence Center.
I chose to come to Palestine for many different reasons, but mainly because I was attending a class about this geographical region and I wanted to learn about it directly from the field, rather than just from the books.
I spent 6 weeks at the center and I had an amazing experience: the staff at the center is super friendly and welcoming and everyone is always ready to help you out whenever you need. I had the chance to live with a local family which taught me so much about the culture and the traditions and made me immediately feel like I was one of them. With the center I had the opportunity to take Arabic classes with an amazing teacher and to go on several visits: local families that told me about their life under occupation, refugee camps (where I also had the opportunity to teach English to the kids), Israeli settlements, villages around Hebron, local NGO’s and human rights activists, lawyers…
The center also provided us with some classes in order to give us an historical background of the occupation and prepare us before the visits.
During my time here I also had the opportunity to go on several trips around the West Bank and Israel with some fellow volunteers: I visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho and the Dead Sea, Jaffa, Haifa and Akka.
Regarding safety and security in Palestine, there was never a time that I felt unsafe in Hebron or while traveling: Palestinians are the nicest and most welcoming people I have ever met.
After spending 6 weeks in Hebron, I can say beyond doubt that I’m going back to my country as a more educated and experienced person. I definitely recommend the center to anyone interested in learning more about Palestine and helping its people: I am already planning on going back next year!