Program Reviews

Hello! My name is Anne, I am 19, and I am from the Netherlands.
During my gap year I decided to stay with The Excellence Center in Hebron, Palestine, for a
month.
The programme I participated in was the Human Rights Programme and I helped out with
English Club.
I stayed here in April and the beginning of May. During my time in Hebron there were about
10 other volunteers and internationals, and I got to experience the second half of Ramadan
and Eid.
My hostfamily was super welcoming and warm. I arrived with 0 arabic, and the family barely
spoke English.
Nonetheless, my host mom put ‘we are one family now’ in google translate when I arrived,
which made me feel at home from the start.
I found it to be special to have Iftar with my family and to be brought along to family visits
during Eid.
Having community breakfast with other volunteers and staff at the center was always a nice
way to start the day.
After that I would have Arabic class, go on excursions to special sites or people, or have
English club.
Most days the schedule was quite chill, I’d often spend my late afternoons in one of the local
cafes with my friends to study Arabic together and have a nice hangout.
During the weekends, which were Fridays and Saturdays, I definitely recommend visiting
other cities in Palestine.
There are so many historical sites to see, like 8th century mosaic floors of a historical palace
in Jericho or the nativity church in Bethlehem.
Seeing other places has shown me the rich culture and different atmospheres across the
West bank.
While visiting Banksy or even just driving on the roads and seeing the settlements teaches
you the reality of occupation.
One thing that, from my experience, the different places in Palestine all have in common is
the warmth and kindness of the people.
Before coming here, most of my friends and family were worried about my safety and and
asked me why I had to go to Palestine, of all places.
However, from arrival onwards everyone has been so nice, and I have not had a moment
when I felt unsafe.
Everywhere you go people will greet you, say ‘welcome to Palestine!’ and help you when
needed.
I think I will experience a bit of a culture shock when I am back home, as Dutch people in
general are much more cold, and there won’t be coffee handed out in the supermarket.
My overall experience with the Excellence Center has been excellent. The staff and Arabic
teachers are kind and flexible. Hebron is a big city with lots of shops and stores and market
places. I got to try all kinds of new food, my personal favorite is knafeh.
I hope to be able to come back to Palestine soon in the future!

The instruction I received in the intensive Arabic course was great and all the lessons were 1 on 1 so I really made progress! For those studying Arabic here though you live in Neustadt which is good for practicing arabic but is quite a bit further than where the german students. You have to take the tram which can be quite unreliable! The accommodation in Neustadt was also a bit run down but my flatmate was very lovely and helped me practice my Arabic! Overall though the teaching is fantastic for the price you pay and it was a huge boost to my arabic, both my teachers Salma and Moaz were great and I will most likely return to study Arabic another time!

I spent two weeks teaching German and studying Arabic at the Excellence Center. (I would have taught English as well, but there were enough other volunteers at the time.) Everyone at the centre is really nice and friendly. Even though there was a significant age gap between the other short-term volunteers/students (all of them 19 or 20 years old) and me, everybody was happy to chat about this and that. Also Salma, Nargis and Ali, who work at the centre long term, were incredibly welcoming and created good vibes.

I taught a lovely Syrian lady every day, an almost complete beginner, and it was very rewarding to see her use the simple words and sentences we covered. As all the regular Arabic teachers were busy or away, Nargis (herself an intern) became my Arabic teacher. She was extremely helpful and patient and I got a lot of speaking practice (always my main concern when I take lessons).

My suggestion for the centre would be improved communication in organising stuff, like having a staff handbook with the basics about who is who and how the centre is run, and giving teachers more info about their prospective students before their first lesson.

I liked the fact that everyone gives presentations once in a while (about teaching methods, about themselves, and Salma about the situation of refugees in Halle) and found it really interesting to listen to them.

Halle itself is a nice, not overwhelmingly large city, which makes it easy to get around, with great cafés and beautiful architecture in the centre.

Thanks, danke and shukran everyone!

Hello everyone, I’m Adam from the UK and I have had the absolute pleasure of volunteering at the excellence centre for the past three weeks. During this time I have been able to tick many boxes off my list. Not only have I been able to visit Palestine, I have been able to engage with the community and be truly immersed in the culture.
The daily struggle of the Palestinian people is one I hold dear to my heart having grown up watching the situation, so to have the opportunity to volunteer here has been amazing. During my three weeks I have visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, refugee camps and also the Bediun areas where we got to see and talk to people who had built caves underground to live because the IDF were destroying whatever structures they made above ground.
It was very important for me to not just come to Palestine as a tourist but to volunteer and help the community any way I could. At the excellence centre I was able to participate in English classes, which allowed me to interact with Palestinian youths, to laugh and organize games as well as other fun lesson activities. This was an extremely rewarding activity and as this was my first time teaching… anything.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or even do. The other volunteers here and the staff were so supportive and I managed to pick it up and roll with it. I also did the Arabic study option, as a beginner in Arabic the classes were very informative and gave me enough to have a conversation which is an added bonus.
The excellence centre is an extremely welcoming place, where everyone is more than happy to help. I guess this just reflects the overall Palestinian culture and the vibe I got in the west bank. From the moment I arrived by bus late at night I had already been driven to the centre by a lovely family and brought up stairs by another family to have coffee and cake whilst waiting for staff to come back.

This was my first glimpse into what I could expect in Palestine and over the last 3 weeks, moments like this where I have been shown extreme generosity are very common, actually. My experience here has been filled with special moments due to coming during Ramadan. The feeling of sitting around at a table with new friends whilst waiting for the aathan to start is a something I won’t forget.
Coming during this time period also meant we got the chance to be invited to local people’s houses and experience a true Palestinian iftar which, if I’m being honest with you guys. The food itself is enough to make me want to come back. The falafel and hummus will forever haunt my dreams and the rice and chicken dishes are second to none. But back to a more serious note, my time here living in the West bank has been an experience full of firsts and hopefully not the lasts. Until next time.

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.

During my week at the Excellence Center, I began learning Arabic, I worked with Palestinian kids in an English club, and got the chance to go to a refugee camp and talk with some students about their experiences. I honestly could not recommend this program enough. The community of volunteers and workers here are fantastic. When working with Rafat and Osama, the leaders of the program while I was there, I always felt as though my best interests were taken into account and they both went out of their way to make my week the best it could be. Also, the other volunteers are some of the nicest people I have met. I immediately felt comfortable around everyone and was able to make friends and build community. Two of the nights I was here, we were able to have iftar at the center and it is one of my many highlights to my week in Hebron. Being able to learn about Palestine more, and doing it by engaging with and talking to Palestianians was so incredible and I could not recommend doing something like this with any other organization. My week here was so memorable and I cannot wait to come back.

My time at the Excellence Center has been an experience I will never forget. From beginning to end, the people of Palestine have been the most genuine and hospitable. My host family, students, volunteers, even the local merchants welcomed me with open arms into their culture and daily life. For the short time that I was here, I participated in English Club, took Arabic class, volunteered at refugee camp Fawwar, and got to explore the city of Hebron. English club was my favorite activity I participated in. Not only did I get to witness ten- to sixteen-year-old children become more confident in their English-speaking abilities, but I got to build authentic connections with the students. The Excellence Center expresses that it “brings people together,” and that is exactly what happened this week. I am leaving with a lifetime of friendships and memories. Thank you to everyone who made this week what it was. The Excellence Center is a magical place, and I will be back inshallah!!

I have been really impressed with the quality of the Arabic teaching here, and I feel clearer now about what I need to do to become more fluent. I have really enjoyed living with a local family and learning more about life here from them. It has been interesting to be thrown together with a random bunch of internationals from all over the world, and to hear about their different motivations for coming here. We have also had quite a lot of opportunities to do or own thing and explore for ourselves.

Although only spending two weeks at the Excellence Center, my experience has been amazing. Before arrival I was a bit nervous, but as soon as I arrived, my fears disappeared and I felt really welcomed. The center is a brilliant place to learn German! My one-on-one German lessons were fun and varied, and my teacher Muaz has some great language-learning methods, so I learnt a lot in a short time. Teaching English and helping refugees learn is also an experience I will never forget. I had never taught English before, but the center is very supportive and all of the students are really friendly so I quickly felt comfortable. Hearing the stories of people, meeting people from around the world and learning about their different cultures, has really been a unique and eye-opening experience.

Halle is also a great place to stay if you want to learn more German and see more of Germany. Many of the people here usually only want to speak in German, so it forces you to use your language and helps you build confidence. In terms of the location, it is also quite easy to hop on a train or bus and see a lot of the country. In just 2 weeks I have been to Berlin, Leipzig and Wernigerode. In Halle, there are also quite a few museums, cafes, pubs and bars, so there is always something to do here.

Most importantly, the people at the center are all so friendly and welcoming - making me feel at home straight away. I have met some great people and made some great friends. My only regret is that I did not stay longer! If you are undecided on whether to volunteer at the center or not, just do it! I promise you will not regret it.

I specifically wanted to learn the Palestinian dialect and was excited to be able to find a teacher in Hebron who could provide online learning for me. My teacher was so patient and friendly. She was also very flexible and forgiving of my inconsistent schedule. I am older and was afraid I would be a slow learner but my teacher was always encouraging and positive. I feel like I have made a friend as well as learned a lot. I hope to travel to Hebron and continue my studies in person at the center. I had private lessons and so my learning was individually paced which suited my needs exactly.