Program Reviews

My name is Hibiki Kanda. I have a degree in International Liberal Arts and will be studying for master’s degree in Migration and Development from 25th September.

During my stay in the Excellence centre, I was involved in Volunteering with refugees program and I learnt Arabic, visited sites in Hebron, heared local people’s stories and taught in Al Fawwar camp. I found the Arabic lessons a lot of fun. I wish to continue learning it. I found the environment in the centre excellent. Everybody is very kind and so welcoming. You are at home from day 1.

During my time I visited, Abraham Mosque, Al Fawwar camp, Old town and Human rights defenders. I also visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, Dead Sea and Tel-Aviv during my whole stay in Palestine.

I found living in Hebron quite Amazing. It was far safer than I had originally thought. You can walk around alone without any concern during day or in the evening.

What I most like about Palestine was the people. The Hospitality was amazing. Meeting the people was my favourite experience. The friendliness of everyone in Hebron was just so good. My lasting impression of Hebron and Palestine is how kind everybody is. Would like to come back to meet everyone again.

Overall it was brilliant. Would definitely recommend to my friends.

My name is Fionn McPeake, I am 22 years old, and I am from Ireland. My stay at centre lasted only 10 days, although I wish I could have stayed for longer. I participated in the Human Rights Internship, and it was a fascinating and enriching experience. The program consisted of unforgettable trips, meetings, and discussions in Hebron and beyond, including a tour of the old town and Al Ibrahimi Mosque, and a visit to Al Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron. Although my stay was short, I was still able to get see the difficulties Palestinian people face everyday as a result of the Israeli occupation. Despite these difficulties, the people here are among the friendliest and most welcoming I have ever come across. They are happy to help you at every turn and go out of their way to make you feel welcome and at home. Safety really is not an issue for visitors, and I felt super comfortable throughout the entire experience.
The Centre also presents a wonderful opportunity to learn Arabic. Due to the amazing teaching at the Centre and the immersion experience of living in Hebron, I was able to achieve a good level of understanding of Levantine Arabic in quite a short time. My teacher, Haya, was so helpful and kind, as are all of the other teachers at the Centre. One of the best parts of the experience here was meeting so many lovely, like-minded volunteers/interns during my stay. With the weekend off, you have the opportunity to travel with friends you make to other beautiful places outside of Hebron – for example, I was able to visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho (hot), and even swim in the Dead Sea. Throughout the experience I have also had the chance to try a huge range of Palestinian foods which I look forward to trying to replicate at home in Ireland.
Overall, my stay in Palestine has been hugely enjoyable and incredibly interesting. I have met so many amazing people and learnt so much in such a short time and I am looking forward to coming back for longer. I highly recommend coming to the centre for anyone who is looking to immerse themselves in the wonderful culture Palestine and its people have to offer.

My time with the excellence center and in Palestine has been a truely precious and remarkable experience, along with helpful and fun arabic lessons, activities such as the old town tour really made the experience. The community within the center is friendly and welcoming along with the rest of Palestine. The accomdidating and hospitible nature of the Palestinian people is truely remarkable. I felt extremely safe my stay aswell as comfortable. The food palestine is incredible but the people have been my favourite aspect of the trip. My host family made bfeel part of the family and I feel extremely thankful for my experiance

I had an incredible experience during my two weeks of volunteering at the excellence centre in Halle. The team all have such interesting backgrounds and their journeys to get here and the work they now do are both eye opening and inspiring. I can honestly say that the work they are doing is contributing to making the world a much better place.

Rafat, Muaz, and Ali are all incredible people. The excellence centre always has good vibes with them around, and the place runs seamlessly under their guidance. The shared breakfast each morning is always tasty and provides a great social environment. They are always organizing social meet ups for the volunteers outside of the centre as well.

The English teaching lessons for refugees are run in an organized, yet relaxed manner. Rafat ensures that volunteers are paired well with students and trusts us to teach in a way that we feel suits us and the students. He is also always close by to answer whatever questions we may have, and to help out with whatever else we may need.

The German lessons were organized and run very well. Muaz is a great teacher – very engaging, and always patient! 2 weeks was certainly not enough to gain an extensive knowledge of German, but I left with a much better vocabulary and understanding of the language thanks to Muaz.

My Time at the excellance center and palestine has been a truely precious and unforgetable experience. Firstly the course was not only really fun with great teaching but also provided me with valuable foundation in arabic that I plan to take futher. I have felt extremely welcomed and comfortable in the center and in palestine in general. Palestinian hospitality is truely remarkable and sincere. I felt extremely safe due to the helpfullness of the local people and am extremely thankful for such an incredible experience.

I had the amazing chance to participate on the Human Rights Internship Programme. During this week in Hebron i was able to visit the old town of Hebron, the AL-Ibrahim Mosque and visit a refugee camp. I would say that what i experienced exceeded my expectations. The cuty was very safe and historically rich. Reading on books About Palestine and its history cannot ,match the reality of being here. Also, i had the chance to meet people from all over the world and share valuable experiences with them. I would definitely recommend!!

Hi, my name is Oliver. I am from Slovakia and I am currently studying Middle Eastern studies. I have been at the Excellence Center Palestine for 4 weeks and I participated in the Human rights intership. This program consists of trips, visits, and presentations about Palestine. Namely visits to local families, schools, organizations, refugee camps and villages. You are able to get a sense of the situation in Palestine and of the daily lives and struggles of its people.
As for the Arabic classes, I chose to learn the levantine dialect. My teacher Duha was incredible, she created a positive environment where learning was fun! I thoroughly enjoyed my Arabic classes in which I gained knowledge of conversational Arabic and phrases used in the daily life.
The staff in the centre is very friendly and welcoming. I met many like-minded people and made a lot of friends among volunteers. We visited many places around Palestine together, like Ramallah, Betlehem and Jaffa.
As for the safety concerns, I personally felt very safe in Hebron. Palestinians are probably the most welcoming and nicest people I've ever met. They are happy to see internationals, and appreciate your interest in their country. They often invited me for a coffee or a dinner and some lucky ones even got invited to a wedding!
In general, my stay in Palestine was very enriching. I've met new people, gained sense of Islamic culture, learned Arabic, and most importantly, I'm leaving as wiser, more experienced person with many great memories.

The Excellence Center provides a unique opportunity to connect with the intimate city of Hebron. In my time at the Center I was able to make connections with various NGOs and organizations that worked to both provide assitance in Hebron as well as contribute to my professional experience. The other volunteers at the Center make for a close community that provides comfort and peace, and the locals of Hebron are some of the kindest most wonderful people to meet and I consider myself blessed to have known them.

My name is Gina and I participated in the teaching English program.
I stayed for over 2 months with a host family who were incredibly welcoming and made me feel at ease being a new place.

At the centre I had Arabic lessons which really helped me to be able to communicate in the city and beyond, by the end of my stay I definitely had an understanding of the basics.

I taught intermediate English to a group of young students over the summer and I think this was my favourite experience, I learnt a lot about Palestine through them.

The Excellence Centre also organised many visits to areas of Palestine I wouldn’t have seen if travelling on my own. We had opportunities to meet many different types of people and listen to their stories. The tours around the old town of Hebron and surrounding areas were really interesting and I really value the shared experiences I had.
It was wonderful to meet so many people from all over the world within the centre, there really was a varied group of volunteers, so a real cultural exchange. I made friends and we managed to travel around the country to Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho and Jenin.
The people of Palestine are incredibly kind and welcoming and there is a real sense of community here. I am sad to be leaving and would love to return soon so I can see the friends I made here.
Thankyou to the Excellence Centre for giving me an experience to remember for a lifetime

I spent a week at the EC where I learned arabic the teacher was friendly and experinced and good funThe centre was helpful and friendly and was there to support me in any way which i appreciated. My host famile were the loveliest kindest people who looked after me took me around the town and fed me constantly. You will enjoy your experience here its unique! I found Hebron very safe i never felt threatened or afraid whatver time of day. In facthe people were respectful and friendly and oten wanted to chat on the street to practice their engish.