Hello, my name is Dena and I spent one week at the Excellence Center volunteering with the refugee program. I am a Palestinian American and it has always been a dream of mine to visit my home land. When I came across the Excellence Center, I found it was the perfect fit for me. I had the opprotunity to visit numerous refugee camps to learn more about the life in the camps. I met with many Palestinian people who welcomed me into their homes to tell me their stories. The arabic lessons the center provided made it easier to communicate with the people. I have learned so much during my time in Palestine. I visited many beautiful places such as Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. I felt very safe during my trip to Palestine and I am very excited to return.

Marhaba,
My name is Basim Warra and I was a volunteer here at the Excellence Center with the Palestinian refugees. The experience was absoutley amazing. The center provided lots of activities regarding my program which truly helped me grow not only as a learner but as a human. The program truly gave me a greater grasp of what is going on in my home couontryThe center also provided Arabic lessons which helped me enhance my current skills. In regards to the center's staff, everyone was very welcoming and generous. Overall as super great time and I highly reccomend.

I spent six weeks at the Excellence Center in Palestine, where I attended the Human Rights program.

I arrived on a rainy day in Hebron coming from Bethlehem and felt unsure, what would expect me. The minute I arrived the people from the staff were extremely helpful and welcoming and told me we would have dinner at the center and then later I would meet my host family. Feeling tired of the new circumstances and unsure about what would expect me I started my first day at the center.

To be honest, I did not know what to expect of the host family and how the cultural differences would affect the co-living. I got to stay with Maha and her family who treated me as part of their family from the second I met them. Even though their English was very limited, their warm heart and hospitality exceeded all of my expectations and enabled me to settle in to my new life in Hebron with no issues at all, moreover it helped me to have a smooth start and gave me feeling of being at home even though I was in a completely new setting.

Quickly I realized that my foreseen three arabic hours a week would not be satisfactory for me as I really developed the want of being able to talk to my host family and connect with locals. Therefore I upgraded my Arabic classes and did about two hours a day with Duha. As there were not that many people at the center because of Ramadan, I got to have my Arabic classes by myself, which I am very grateful for. This setting allowed me to learn a completely new language at my own pace and not feel insecure about asking as many questions as I would need/want. I also enjoyed the fact that my teacher Duha was the same age as me. Through her I did not only start to learn the language. Additionally we could exchange thoughts and views about the different cultures we come from and I could have an insight into the views of a young Palestinian woman, which I really appreciate.

During my program I visited different refugee camps. We went to H2, which is the region in the old town of Hebron controlled by the Israeli authority, and visited a Palestinian family, who is strongly affected by the Israeli authority’s arbitrary aggression daily. We also went to see beduins, who struggle to keep their homes intact as they get destroyed by the Israeli authorities over and over again. We met human rights activists who told us about their work as well as local Palestinian authorities. We met Rani, who is a local artist, expressing the conflict through art.

The other volunteers at the center were all very open and quickly I built new friendships. On weekends we would visit places like Bethlehem, Ramallah or the Dead Sea and would spend many evenings eating Kunafe together or study at a café together. These friendships also helped me to process all the new insights and gave me a feeling of home away from home.

One of my favorite moments was a Ramadan iftar invitation we foreigners got from a big Alkhalili family. It was a big gathering, which was gender seperated. It was an experience I had never had before and the hospitality of this family I will never forget. In general, Palestine has to have the most hospitable people I have ever come across with. People here go out of their way to make you feel welcome and part of their community. I will truly miss this hospitality and kindness in other places.

During my entire stay in Hebron I never had any security issues or did not feel unsafe. There is nothing more to add to that. Of course, we as foreigners are in a privileged position though as we mostly stand out the crowd. People live a normal live here under the given circumstances.

I spent six weeks with the Excellence Centre learning about the situation here in Palestine, occasionally helping with English teaching, and also studying intensive Arabic. There was a wide range of visits, both in Hebron (which has a unique situation because there are settlements in the middle of the old city) and around it to the refugee camps and Masafer Yatta. It was a unique opportunity to visit many of these places and hear from local people about their lives and their opinions. Teaching English was also a rewarding experience. I was here during the winter and the number of international volunteers was quite small but there was a good group and there were lots of opportunities for people to travel together on the weekends. I was really happy with my Arabic class with Doha, who put a huge amount of effort into designing our classes to suit my interests and my level. I would recommend to anyone who comes here to try and take more than the minimum level of Arabic because spending time here is a great opportunity to improve.

I know many people may be worried about coming to spend time in Hebron because of security but I had no problems at all in that regard.

I was only here for a week, but through several visits, I got to know Hebron. I feel that being able to see the Israeli occupation by myself and hear stories from loclas was very valuable experience. Palestinans are supposed to be in difficult situation, but i felt that they didnt make us feel that. they are cheerful and friendly. Through this stay, i learned not only about the difficult situation but also about how cheerful the people are.
I also took arabic lesson and it was good to me. I have learned standard Arabic, but never learned dialects. BUt to communincate, the dialects is most important, so the class is very valuable and my teacher taught me very well.

I'm Carlotta, I'm from Italy and I am 24. I've been one month in Hebron and it was a great experience and I had the opportunity to lear so much about the occupation and the situation here. The activities that I had were really interesting. All the staff and the teachers were amazing and always available to help me. I had the opportunity to visit so many places in the west bank.
The host family has been as a second family here. I've always felt safe and peole here are really welcoming.
The food is amazing.

i came to learn more about the human right in palestine and it was my first time in palestine so i needed a place where i could feel safe and learn in the same time. the center is located in the center of west bank and the people are the kindest and my host family made feel like home with her family. overall i am satisfied with what they offered as trips and programs that made me understand more about what is going on in palestine. Moreover, i had arabic lesson with one the sweetest teacher (douha) who helped strenghten my palestinian dialect and understand the roots of palestine through converstaions. thank you for sharing your values with us and being part of it.

As a Muslim, I have always heard about what has gone on in Palestine and the injustices that Palestinians have suffered. I therefore decided to search for a programme which will enable me to volunteer in Palestine and to immerse myself in the culture.

Being a part of the Excellence Centre has allowed me to get involved dirrectly. Although the time was short, it really has helped me with my personal growth and I was exposed to a community I am not used to being a part of. This opportunity has had such a positive impact on me and I cannot describe the feeling of being a part of a community at the excellence centre and within the community itself.

The hospitality of the host family was next to nothing. They were absolutely amazing and I know I will miss them so much. I already cannot wait to return.

This programme that the Excellence Centre provide is amazing. I have felt like a part of their family here and I wish I was here for longer. Osama and Marwa are truly fantastic and I make dua that they are successful in everything they do.