Destination Israel

Save your time and money and choose another program. The staff are rude and completely unprofessional. This program is poorly run and chaotic. They discriminate against people who have medical conditions or on any sort of medication. The housing is terrible and you will not know where you are living until a day or two before the program starts. They also are allowed to move you out of your housing at anytime. They are not upfront or clear with instructions and you will go weeks without a response to an email. I cannot emphasize enough how horrible this program is.

We did not find out where were living until one week before the program. We didn't find out that we weren't going to get our stipend until one month into the program until we got here. Our bus pass, gym pass, stipend, nothing was ready for us. We were promised one month intensive training before going to school, but this never happened. The living situation is a disaster. We live packed into an apartment with random people, with some of the worst social issues. When I tried to address the issues with the coordinator she told me I had to learn to live with people and be more mature. I started staying in my room (because I was very uncomfortable around my roommates who who acting inappropriate in my opinion) and I was asked to leave the program and accused of all kinds of things that were never actually happening. I was asked to leave the program for these reasons despite the fact I was an extremely good teacher and went above and beyond for my students in the classroom. My students wrote me several e-mails begging me to stay and my teachers fought on my behalf, but still nothing. I was offered to switch cities, but then my coordinator spoke ill of me to anyone who would listen. I was asked to leave with no where to go and with no regard to my personal health or safety. What you get out of the classroom is AMAZING, but I would highly highly recommend if you want to be a teacher, picking another volunteer/internship program.