Program Reviews

I've spent three weeks this summer studying Arabic at the Excellence Center in Hebron. It is in fact the second time I've made this journey, last year I was also here. I've been learning Arabic for about two years, both on.line and in Hebron, and it has been an amazing adventure. My teacher Haya is supportive and goal oriented and she gives the best possible inspiration to keep me going. The best place to learn a language is of course a country where the language is spoken, and coming to Hebron is definitely a cultural experience out of the ordinary. A memory for life. The people at the center make you feel welcome and you get the chance to meet students and volunteers from almost every corner of the world. It has been a true privilege to be part of Palestinian culture and daily life, and I've made progress in learning Arabic in a way I could not have imagined.

Had weekly online Palestinian Arabic lessons with Ms Haya for a couple of months and my Arabic improved massively. I had taken online lessons before through another provider which focused more on speaking, however, I appreciated that from the start, Ms Haya encouraged me to learn the alphabet and to read and write in Arabic script as opposed to Arabizi. It opened a whole new world for me and made me feel more confident in learning the language, it also meant I could take more ownership in my learning as more resources would be available.

Ms Haya is patient, knowledgeable and her classes are engaging and fun. She is always open to tailoring the classes to your needs.

Inshallah I look forward to going to Palestine one day and attend an in-person course!

Shukran kteer for everything!

Before I came to the Excellence Center, I was somewhat concerned. It was the first solo trip I would take, the first time I would be alone in a country, and many other ‘firsts’ of an anxiety provoking nature. Nearly all of this anxiety was done away with the moment I entered
my shared accommodation and met my fellow volunteers, and it was fully put to bed the next morning, when I walked into the Center for the first time.
My time at The Excellence Center has been a real joy, a sentiment originating from every part of the program. The Center’s staff are all super. They were incredibly kind and welcoming to me from before I even got to Halle, to when I landed in Germany and Rafat reached out to help me get to my flat (even on an early Sunday morning), and then every subsequent day. The Excellence Center does not suffer from a large gap between the volunteers and the staff; we all eat breakfast together every morning, we talk throughout the day, and we have regular group activities, like lunches, trips, and even music lessons. These activities are a wonder for
developing an incredibly close community; even though many of the volunteers before me had
known each other for weeks or months, within fifteen minutes I was talking to them as though I had not just gotten off the airplane. The Center feels incredibly intertwined with the community; people from in and around Halle regularly come in to receive (or in some cases, give) lessons. The staff are all remarkably well connected and seem to know the entire city by name, always giving a wave or a hello when they walk by.
Teaching at the Center was a great experience. All of my students were kind, intelligent, engaged, funny, and happy to be there. The Center provides a very nice balance between structure and freedom: on the one hand, we have endless resources in the form of the
experienced teachers at the center who can always give advice when it is requested. On the other hand, we have the freedom to build and run our own lessons, a task that, while daunting, was
interesting and fun.
The relationships built with the other volunteers really held the program together. We all became very close: many hours were spent playing card games or trying riddles or magic tricks
to fool each other. We ate meals together all the time; once a week, we would do a meal swap, where one apartment would cook a meal for the other. The extreme closeness made for a certain amount of sadness when inevitably someone would have to leave; but the constant arrivals made sure that there was always a steady stream of wonderful people to meet.
The Excellence Center has truly been a wonderful experience; from the staff to the students to the volunteers to the city itself, I have enjoyed every moment of my time here.

I spent 2 of the best months of my life at the Excellence Centre in Halle. Firstly, the centre is such a wonderful and welcoming place - everyone is made to feel so valued and loved and it’s such a joy eating together, making jokes or playing games. Teaching English is such a genuinely rewarding experience, even with no prior experience, and you really do get out of it what you put in. Secondly, I have had the privilege to get to know some of the kindest and most interesting people I’ve ever met. From the staff at the centre to the other volunteers to local uni students, I never would have imagined forming such strong bonds in such a short amount of time, but I am leaving Halle with lifelong friends and memories. I would highly recommend this program to absolutely anyone, it will easily be one of the best experiences of your life! Thank you for everything habibis, I miss you all and I hope with all my heart that we will meet again!

Osama and Marwa provide a wonderful experience for all volunteers, teachers and students. The center is a real community that brings people into an authentic and fulfilling experience in Palestine.

Hebron itself is a very welcoming city, where I and the other volunteers were perfectly safe and always warmly greeted by everyone. The apartment provided by the center is of very high quality.

Overall an unforgettable experience which I hope to repeat some time in future. Would recommend to anyone

My time in Palestine was incredibly fulfilling and eye-opening. I think that every person should visit Palestine to get a true idea of how life is for Palestinians. Everyone at the center is very kind and welcoming, and they act as amazing guides throughout the city. I volunteered with refugees, which involved me visiting camps near Hebron and teaching English to the students. The students were lovely, eager to learn, and so kind. I additionally enjoyed participating in Arabic lessons, which helped me communicate with locals, who are also very welcoming. While safety was a slight concern before I arrived, I quickly realized that I was very safe here in Hebron and that the people of the center would ensure that I was not in harms way. The apartment I was placed in was very nice and comfortable, and it was located very close to the center, which made coming to volunteer very easy and convenient. There are also many restaurants and shops a very short walk away. Overall, I had a very enriching and inspiring experience. I am eager to come back to continue working with the Palestinian people in the future. Many thanks to everyone at The Excellence Center who works so hard to create a positive environment for all.

I spent one week volunteering at the Excellence Center in Hebron as an English teacher, and it was an amazing experience. From the moment I arrived, I felt incredibly welcome. The accommodations were great, everything was well organized, and I felt safe throughout my stay.

A big thank you to the directors, Marwa and Osama, for their kindness and support. The excursions with Osama were a real highlight and gave me a much better understanding of Hebron and Palestinian culture. It was also a pleasure working with Jomana, the teacher I assisted, and learning Arabic with Haya, whose lessons were engaging and very enjoyable.

I met wonderful people, had a fantastic cultural experience, and made memories I’ll always keep. I highly recommend the Excellence Center to anyone interested in volunteering, learning Arabic, or experiencing life in Palestine.

This has been an incredible experience, I have stayed here for nearly 3 months and wish I could stay longer, so have no doubts I will try to be back soon! I have learnt so much, most of all the real meaning of resilience as well as experiencing so much kindness, hospitability, brotherhood (&sisterhood) and generosity. The people here are so warm and welcoming, I'm referring to my host family, all the staff at the center as well as the people of the city of Al Khalil (Hebron) and the nearby cities, camps and villages, such al Al Arub camp, Al Fawar camp, Um Al Hair village, Ben Enam village, Yatta city, Dura city and basically every place I've visited.
The possibility to volunteer with the kids from the camp has been so fulfilling as they are really engaged and enthusiastic in learning English in every activity I have proposed and I think the most beautiful thing is that they have also taught me so much, which I was not really expecting but are very grateful for.
I have never been very studious, but I must say that my Arabic lessons with Jomana, at the Excellence center have been wonderful! She has managed to make it so fun and actually got me to look forward to my lessons, thanks to her patience and bubbly attitude that she has brought to each and every class we have had.
I'm so thankful to Osama from the excellence center for having made my schedule every day and ensured that I had great places to visit, wonderful people to meet, classes full of lovely children to teach as well as shown me around his beautiful homeland and the situation and difficulties they experience on daily basis as well as detailed stories and personal insights on all of it and always with a positive attitude and big smile on his face.
Thanks to the center for making me feel at home here, to Marwa for taking care of me like a sister, as well as Khatam, that made breakfast for me and my volunteer colleagues every day, as well as cooking many other delicious meals for us, I have felt like I have created such strong bond with them all that I now have a Palestinian family in my heart that I will never forget.
Thanks to all of this mentioned above I have always felt safe and under no threat at any moment though this country lives under the occupation forces, so I wish to emphasize to not hold back from coming due to fear of the complicated situation they live under, I have felt safe here than many other countries I have visited.
There are not enough word to express how thankful I am to all the family and to friends I have made here. I will you miss you all so much!

I had the pleasure of staying in Palestine through the Excellence Center and it was amazing. Seeing the country and learning about everything was something I consider so important in my life. I had the wonderful opportunity to have Ms. Haya as my teacher. She’s incredible! As are the many teachers the organization has that will help you with your Arabic. They are thorough, patient, and fun. The people of Palestine are so warm and welcoming too. The organizers of the Excellence Center give a great balance of walking you through while letting you be on your own. I can’t stress my love for the Excellence Center and the country. May I visit a million times

I absolutely loved every hour I spent last year at the Excellence Center, unfortunately it was for a very short time. I studied Arabic with Haya and learned about humanitarian issues facing Palestinians, especially women, from Osama. I had an unusual background in Arabic-- I studied the Levantine dialect in Jordan many years ago and took a semester of Modern Standard Arabic five or six years ago. Haya was able to develop what felt like a curriculum especially for me-- first online and then at the Excellence Center. The Center provides the perfect Palestine experience-- I hope to spend at least two weeks there soon.