The Excellence Center Reviews

Activities
My main activity was teaching English to Palestinians of ages between 4 and 33. I did this in the Fawwar refugee camp as well as at the Excellence Center in Hebron. In both places this was very rewarding, as my students were basically already happy that I was just there, and even more when we had interesting conversations that encouraged them to further practice their English skills. It became apparent that in many cases, the interaction with me was the first opportunity to practice especially their spoken skills outside of a classroom. Often this motivated them to continue learning and improving their abilities to have a conversation in English.

Arabic Lessons
The Arabic lessons with Marwa were not only helpful and practical, but moreover set in a motivating learning atmosphere=) As I was in a host family that spoke mainly Arabic, at the beginning of my stay of course I barely could understand anything if my host mom wouldn't translate it for me. As time went by and I continued learning Arabic with Marwa, I was so happy to realize that my Arabic skills were improving quite fast. On the one hand, this was because I was in an environment in which I was highly exposed to written and spoken Arabic, but on the other hand it also had to do with the fact that Marwa focussed on teaching me very helpful vocabulary and grammar that I could use immediately. A big *thank you* to Marwa for the interesting and very useful lessons, and the relaxed atmosphere that enhanced my learning curve!

Center's Environment
I feel so lucky while I am writing this, because literally everyone was nice, welcoming and eager to make me belong! I enjoyed hanging around with the staff and the international fellows so much that I would find myself long after the classes have ended still sitting at the Center and having interesting (and funny!) conversations, e.g. about Palestinian culture and everyday life, about funny aspects of the English and Arabic language, about life in Hebron and many topics more. Now that my stay is coming to an end, I am full of gratitude (and sadness...) as it feels as if I have an extended family in Hebron now - it includes all those who beautified my time at the Excellence Center.

Visits
The Excellence Center made possible many visits that were tailored to my interests and wishes - I am very grateful that so many doors were opened to enhance my knowledge and experience of Palestinian life in the West Bank. These included tours through the Old City of Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque as well as a kindergarden and community center in the Old City; an excursion to Ramallah; a tour through a women-only kitchen that supplies food to families and school canteens; experiencing the graduation party at a school for blind children; visiting the only Kufiyyah factory in the whole of Palestine; going on a hike to see Palestine's beautiful nature; giving a class at the Tanweer Center in Beit Ummar; and incredibly insightful excursions to the Law faculty at Hebron University and to the Chamber of Commerce in Hebron.
All of these visits enhanced my understanding of Palestinian life in the West Bank significantly and the open exchanges were incredibly insight- and fruitful!

Living with a host family
Eventhough I lived a bit outside of Hebron in a town close-by (about 20 minutes by car away), very early on I came to see it as a privilege: Firstly, I had more nature surrounding me and the commute to Hebron made for a nice division between "work time" and "leisure time." Secondly, I had a more nuanced experience of town-life and city-life, as there are slight differences between the two. In a nutshell, I got to see another layer of Palestinian life that would have otherwise been hidden. Most importantly, my host family was incredibly welcoming. From day one, I was part of the family, and this weren't empty words, but lived everyday experience. At the beginning, I had to adjust to the fact that being part of the family means also not having as much me-time as I was used to in Europe, yet I communicated that openly, as well as my vegetarianism. At first this was slightly frowned upon due to its unusual nature: "Me-time instead of us-time? And no meat? You are weird..." But as time progressed, so did the acceptance of my host family, and at visits to other family members they would even advocate for me and explain why I wouldn't eat meat. So I highly recommend being aware of your boundaries, setting them straight at the beginning and bringing along a notch of patience - sooner than later you'll enjoy your time as a family member and you won't want to leave.

Safety and Security in Palestine
As a lone woman in a foreign country you're always faced with the question of how safe it is being in the streets on your own. I have to say, here in Hebron there wasn't one incident in which I felt unsafe or menaced. Quite on the contrary people here are very courteous and eager to ensure you have a pleasant time. For unseasoned female travellers: As a woman that is noticeably from a different country, you will get looked at (briefly, but noticeably) when you walk on the streets. But this is due to the fact that tourists here are rare, and thus it is unusual to see foreigners. A male fellow international told us that he got looked at because he wore shorts, which is again a highly unusual thing here lol. I can say from my own experience that even these incidents are short, and of a friendly kind. Thus I wouldn't hesitate to recommend coming here and seeing for yourself how welcoming, kind the people here are - they're curious and grateful to get to know you.

What I liked most about Palestine
What I liked most about Palestine was definitely the people. The resilience and joy of the people I have met here is impressive and heartwarming at the same time. The sense of gratitude that I got from so many acquaintances about me being here and wanting to know more about Palestinian life was so overwhelming. Often I felt unreasonably special, but I quickly learned that this stems from a culture in which hospitality is a high, if not the highest virtue and I felt this every day I spent here. I am very grateful to having gained so many new, interesting, and honest friendships and already look forward to - insha'Allah - coming soon again!

My favorite experience in Palestine
There were so many nice incidents during my time here! One of the funniest was when my fellow international friend Sheila and I gave our last class in the Fawwar refugee camp. We thought of having a nice game of musical chairs and every time someone would lose a round, they had to make a sentence in English with a given noun, verb, and adjective. Everyone took each round so serious and truly wanted to get a seat, it was hilarious and we had so much fun while actually learning English!

Recommendation
My time here is unforgettable, so many doors to places and people's hearts were opened thanks to the Excellence Center. If you are interested in more than just a superficial tourist-y glimpse, I highly recommend coming here and taking part in Palestinian everyday life according to your interests and wishes. Not only will you be warmly welcomed, but moreover contribute to lasting learning experiences - the local's, the internationals', and your own.

The Excellence Center is a great place for anyone looking to improve their Arabic, gain cultural exposure, and learn more about the political situation in Palestine. After 2 weeks there, I advanced in Arabic more than I expected and felt part of the Excellence Center family.

This is a wonderful opportunity for those needing flexibility. You can go as little as one week, and you can choose your exact start and end dates. It's great for people with full-time jobs who can't take off a whole semester.

Hi I’m Victoria, I’m based in Scotland. I spent 2 weeks at the Excellence Center studying Arabic. I had some basic Arabic before I arrived in Hebron- but just greetings, a few words and a basic understanding of the alphabet. My two weeks at the Excellence centre were fantastic; we went back to basics with the alphabet but progressed very quickly to greetings, vocabulary and verbs. By the end of my time there I was chatting to people in the taxi about my family and job.

The Center itself is very well located off the main street- easy to locate because its next to the stadium. And very close to a very friendly coffee shop that does a great latte, for those rare times that an Arabic coffee is not exactly what you need. The staff at the centre are all lovely and very welcoming, particularly Marwa and her family. Eating breakfast together every day really helps you get to know the other participants at the excellence centre, and they tend to come from diverse and interesting backgrounds, which give you a new insight into Palestine and the Arabic language. The centre also arranged several visits to the old city, which were very informative, and the staff are comfortable to talk about day to day life in Palestine.

Living in Hebron City was a great experience. The city feels safe, people are friendly and happy to talk but also very respectful of boundaries. I felt safer in Hebron than I have done in some British cities in the evening. And the food, of course, is superb. My host family were absolutely delightful; helpful, friendly, interesting and provided wonderful food. I feel I have made some friends for life, and I am very keen to return next year to Hebron next year.

In summary, I am very pleased I chose Palestine and the Excellence Center as my destination to learn more Arabic and experience the Palestinian culture. Lovely people, great food and a fantastic experience.

Just one word on the logistics, the Excellence center website talks in a lot of detail about how to get to Hebron from Ben Gurion airport. The shared taxi from Damascus Gate in Jerusalem doesn’t run all the time- especially in the early morning, so I took the 231 bus to Bethlehem and got a shared taxi from there, or you can get a 234 to Bethlehem check point, go through the checkpoint and get a shared taxi from the other side. People are really happy to help you in Palestine :)

Having started my experience with the Excellence Centre (EC) with the Refugee Programme, I spoke with Osama and Marwa to change my programme on to the Human Rights Programme. Having enjoyed my experience in Al Fawar Refugee camp, and having watched another two volunteers join the Human Rights Programme, I was curious to see what I could learn from it.

The format of the programme consisted of attending meetings, tours and Q&A sessions with a variety of professionals and groups. Ranging from social issues to political ones, I was fortunate enough to sit in on meetings with, and learn from, human rights activists, women's rights activists, lawyers, local charities and NGO's, radio personalities and journalists, whilst also doing tours of contested areas.

Each day was different on this programme and what you learnt would all depend on who you met. There were highly enlightening discussions we took part in, such as the political talk we had with The Human Rights Defenders Group. Every meeting we had was different in nature, and on some occasions we would have discussions with individuals whose core principals were very different to my own, though I found this added more value to the programme as the possibility to have an in-depth conversation with someone with an opposing point of view, about a sensitive topic, is not an opportunity which comes by often.

Every so often the programme would spring up a day which you would not expect. Like the day we were taken to the Hebron Blind Charity Association. A fantastic experience in which we met a group of people who put their heart and souls into empowering the blind children of the city. In an occupied land, where restrictions are placed on almost every aspect of life, it was inspirational to see an organisation such as this thriving.

Each individual room was purposefully and thoughtfully crafted, the equipment of the highest quality and the structure well thought out to not just give the blind children a safe and loving place to grow, but also where they are prepared to enter the real world without letting their lack of vision holding them back. Having the privilege to witness this charity, I found another form of resistance, one which succeeds under any circumstances.

The Human Rights Programme is one in which you will have both memorable and forgettable days, but the options will always be given to you. You will get great insight from a variety of perspectives about what life is like in Palestine, and one of its key strengths, as with any programme you choose with the Excellence Centre, is that if you are open and communicative with Marwa and Osama about what it is you want, they will go above and beyond to get it for you.

The feelings of nerves, curiosity and excitement were all present the way they had been during my first week of school, at my first job and the first time I moved away from home. Everything was brand new. The streets, the food, the people, I didn't know what to expect and had no idea what my time is going to be like in Khalil. I had done plenty of research on the Excellence Centre website, read a lot of reviews, watched a lot of their videos, and the message of safety was always conveyed, but hearing from someone else and experiencing it yourself are two very different things.

I arrived to Khalil in the late evening. Having asked around a bit and got some help from the locals, I found the Excellence Centre and waited for Osama and Marwa to arrive as it the Centre was already closed and having had no internet I couldn't inform them until I got there. They welcomed me, gave me tea, showed me around the centre and took me to my host family.

I was greeted with the famous Arab hospitality. I was fed well and shown where I was going to stay. It was the middle of February and bitterly cold, especially indoors. I was fortunate to be given my own room and my own bathroom however the cleanliness was definitely not up to standard.

As I had arrived on a Thursday evening I had the next day off as Friday is part of the weekend. Having completed Friday prayers my host family invited me to a barbeque in their garden. It was delicious and we spoke at great length, with all of them having a lot of questions about my background, my reasons for coming to Palestine, what I thought of it so far, and it was great to watch them all together being a family I have grown real affection for.

Saturday was my first day at the centre and it was very active. Students of all ages were going in and out of different classes and I was invited to one of the English classes with students ageing 10 to 15. Soon enough I was asked to take over and I introduced myself, answered a lot of questions and in turn asked a few myself about their daily routines and interests. I was then introduced to my Arabic teacher Doha and we had our first Arabic lesson which was followed by joining another teacher in the centre, Annas, in helping him teach his English class.

I arrived on time for breakfast the second day and enjoyed a spread of hummus, baba gunush, falafel, salad, bread, tea and coffee. I was introduced to the rest of the members of staff of the centre and the visitors who joined us for breakfast on that day. Every day different friends of the centre would join us for breakfast or drop by to say hello and all would make the effort to converse and welcome me.

The second day I sat in on an English class and then got taken to Fawar Camp. The refugee camp I came to work and teach in. The journey took half an hour and Osama took drove myself, Alicia, a Swiss volunteer, and Doha. The camp was drastically different to Hebron city. A dirt bumpy road spit a deteriorating encampment. Shops selling the basics had hoards of men sitting outside of them, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

We arrived to where the lesson would be taught and were greeted by 30 Fawar camp students. Happy and excited to see us, and eager to learn but struggling with being disciplined and paying attention. Though they were receiving an education, it was clear to see the difference between them and the students of similar ages who would come to the Excellence Centre in the city. Good kids, but severely lacking attention and opportunity. After the class I was shown the rest of the camp and saw the environment thousands were forced to call home.

All the people I interacted with, whether young students or adults, within the Excellence Centre or out on the street, everyone welcomed me to Palestine and Hebron with open arms. People were genuinely happy to see an 'ajnabee' (foreigner) in their city. Shopkeepers and restaurants refused to accept money when realising I wasn't a local. I asked one why he, like others before him, insisted on not taking payment and he told me that it was important to the people of Hebron, and Palestine, that when a foreigner leaves they leave with the best possible impression of their country. So they tell their own people about the positivity and spread the message on their rich, hospitable culture.

Over the next few following days I found myself teaching a number of classes, answering a lot of questions about who I was, why I came to Palestine and what I my experience was like so far. My first week was a blend of teaching English classes, receiving Arabic classes, going to Fawar Camp and receiving tours of the city. Being taken to the old city of Hebron, a beautiful historic place, with thousands of years worth of stories and culture embedded in its stone walls.

Everyone in the Excellence Centre ensured I was taken care of and welcomed. Marwa and Osama checked up on me everyday to make sure I did not need anything, as did my host family. When I did ask for something, they made sure I got it straight away. Where I lived lacked cooking equipment and when I told Marwa about it she made a bag full of utensils, plates, pans etc and gave it to me so that I could cook for myself.

My first week was a blur. It was intense, I saw a lot of faces, shook a lot of hands, ate a lot of food and was thrown into the Palestinian culture with support behind me.

My time at the Excellence Center was some of the best time in my life, I had so much fun and I laughed a lot. All the Palestinian teachers and staff are some of the best people I have ever met, they were extremely welcoming, respectful, friendly and kind. I felt more welcomed at the Excellence Center than I have anywhere else in my life. The Palestinian students were also very eager to learn and very excited to meet foreigners and speak English with them.

My Arabic teacher was wonderful, she was very supportive and made our lessons together both fun and educational. The Palestinian teachers were always willing to help me with anything I needed for English classes and also gave me really great advice. Sometimes I joined classes with Palestinian teachers, sometimes I taught classes by myself and sometimes I taught with other international volunteers. I became more confident, comfortable and better at teaching English during my time here, thanks to all the people at the Excellence Center.

The Palestinian people in Hebron were also wonderful and very kind. I felt very safe, as a woman, walking down the street in Hebron alone at night. I felt more safe here than I did anywhere else in the world. Sometimes people on the street would say hello, how are you, welcome, but it was always in a friendly way and I never felt hassled. It's very different to places like Egypt or Jordan. I found Palestinian men to be very respectful towards me, much more so than men in Western countries.

I cannot recommend the Excellence Center enough, whether you want to just study Arabic, Teach English or do another program. The first few days were overwhelming because I was somewhere new and meeting lots of new people, but after that I started to enjoy it so much that I didn't want to leave. I had some of the best times of my life and met some of my favourite people ever. I would do it all again if I could!

The feelings of nerves, curiosity and excitement were all present the way they had been during my first week of school, at my first job and the first time I moved away from home. Everything was brand new. The streets, the food, the people, I didn't know what to expect and had no idea what my time is going to be like in Khalil. I had done plenty of research on the Excellence Centre website, read a lot of reviews, watched a lot of their videos, and the message of safety was always conveyed, but hearing from someone else and experiencing it yourself are two very different things.

I arrived to Khalil in the late evening. Having asked around a bit and got some help from the locals, I found the Excellence Centre and waited for Osama and Marwa to arrive as it the Centre was already closed and having had no internet I couldn't inform them until I got there. They welcomed me, gave me tea, showed me around the centre and took me to my host family.

I was greeted with the famous Arab hospitality. I was fed well and shown where I was going to stay. It was the middle of February and bitterly cold, especially indoors. I was fortunate to be given my own room and my own bathroom however the cleanliness was definitely not up to standard.

As I had arrived on a Thursday evening I had the next day off as Friday is part of the weekend. Having completed Friday prayers my host family invited me to a barbeque in their garden. It was delicious and we spoke at great length, with all of them having a lot of questions about my background, my reasons for coming to Palestine, what I thought of it so far, and it was great to watch them all together being a family I have grown real affection for.

Saturday was my first day at the centre and it was very active. Students of all ages were going in and out of different classes and I was invited to one of the English classes with students ageing 10 to 15. Soon enough I was asked to take over and I introduced myself, answered a lot of questions and in turn asked a few myself about their daily routines and interests. I was then introduced to my Arabic teacher Doha and we had our first Arabic lesson which was followed by joining another teacher in the centre, Annas, in helping him teach his English class.

I arrived on time for breakfast the second day and enjoyed a spread of hummus, baba gunush, falafel, salad, bread, tea and coffee. I was introduced to the rest of the members of staff of the centre and the visitors who joined us for breakfast on that day. Every day different friends of the centre would join us for breakfast or drop by to say hello and all would make the effort to converse and welcome me.

The second day I sat in on an English class and then got taken to Fawar Camp. The refugee camp I came to work and teach in. The journey took half an hour and Osama took drove myself, Alicia, a Swiss volunteer, and Doha. The camp was drastically different to Hebron city. A dirt bumpy road spit a deteriorating encampment. Shops selling the basics had hoards of men sitting outside of them, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee.

We arrived to where the lesson would be taught and were greeted by 30 Fawar camp students. Happy and excited to see us, and eager to learn but struggling with being disciplined and paying attention. Though they were receiving an education, it was clear to see the difference between them and the students of similar ages who would come to the Excellence Centre in the city. Good kids, but severely lacking attention and opportunity. After the class I was shown the rest of the camp and saw the environment thousands were forced to call home.

All the people I interacted with, whether young students or adults, within the Excellence Centre or out on the street, everyone welcomed me to Palestine and Hebron with open arms. People were genuinely happy to see an 'ajnabee' (foreigner) in their city. Shopkeepers and restaurants refused to accept money when realising I wasn't a local. I asked one why he, like others before him, insisted on not taking payment and he told me that it was important to the people of Hebron, and Palestine, that when a foreigner leaves they leave with the best possible impression of their country. So they tell their own people about the positivity and spread the message on their rich, hospitable culture.

Over the next few following days I found myself teaching a number of classes, answering a lot of questions about who I was, why I came to Palestine and what I my experience was like so far. My first week was a blend of teaching English classes, receiving Arabic classes, going to Fawar Camp and receiving tours of the city. Being taken to the old city of Hebron, a beautiful historic place, with thousands of years worth of stories and culture embedded in its stone walls.

Everyone in the Excellence Centre ensured I was taken care of and welcomed. Marwa and Osama checked up on me everyday to make sure I did not need anything, as did my host family. When I did ask for something, they made sure I got it straight away. Where I lived lacked cooking equipment and when I told Marwa about it she made a bag full of utensils, plates, pans etc and gave it to me so that I could cook for myself.

My first week was a blur. It was intense, I saw a lot of faces, shook a lot of hands, ate a lot of food and was thrown into the Palestinian culture with support behind me.

Hey, my name is Andrey Grant, I am a Software Engineer from Australia, and I found Excellence Centre whilst looking for opportunities to study German intensively in Germany. I really wanted to experience Germany, improve German language as well as just to travel and see the world after the Global Pandemic. Given that I travelled alone, it was not only important for me that there is an excellent language program, but that there is an inclusive culture in which I would feel at home despite not knowing anyone in Germany. Reflecting on my experiences over the last 6 weeks in Halle, I can confidently say that the Excellence Centre has satisfied me with all of the above, and in fact much more.

Learning German: Originally, what attracted me to the Excellence centre was their cost effective Intensive German course, with very flexible timelines. The biggest advantage over mainstream German options was that I could adjust exactly when I wanted to start and finish my course, whilst being affordable. I was also hesitant because at A2 level I wasn't certain if I will be able to learn when my teacher taught in German. However, these worries were extinguished on my first day of German lessons. Muaz, my German teacher, has been nothing but amazing and accomodating towards my learning goals. His ability to convey meaning of German words, sentences and grammar in German is superb. I felt like Muaz was invested in my progress and experience in learning German, employing a variety different technqiuese and exercises across speaking, writing, listening and reading, both free form and from conventional textbooks. Furthermore, he was extremely encouranging in me pushing my boundaries, whilst helping me fix my mistake along the way. And all of this all the while following (mostly) with B1 standard topic choice, which means that if i chose to continue with German further, I have B1 background. In summary, I find that learning German at the centre has only strengthened my resolve to continue learning German in future.

Halle and German Culture: Another reason I chose the Excellence centre was its location in Germany. Large cities like Berlin has a strong reputation for being English speaking hubs, where a tourist need practically no German to live. Halle on the other hand, is a relatively small (whilst still being modern) city, where fewer people are able or have desire to speak English. You can still get around by using English, but in my experience only young people will speak English with you unless absolutely necessary. The downside is that even you're somewhat fluent with Hochdeutsch, local accents can be challenging to understand. However over six week period I found that I can somewhat confidently order foods, shop at the supermarkets, get around through the city etc. Additionally, Halle contains a few things to do, such as museum, and historical locations. There is a lot of gorgeous nature around, and I have enjoyed multitude of walks through the city and surrounding forest. The final mention is that German has an amazing public transport system, which enables you to travel between Halle and other cities such as Berlin, Leipzig, etc which you can explore in your time off. I would have to say that whilst Halle has some nightlife, if you're looking for that kind of entertaintment, Berlin or Leipzig have much more to offer.

Day to day things: In addition to paying for lessons, the price of the course also included the stay at an apparentment for six weeks, which made it an even better offer. Rafat and Radwan have been extremely accomodating in helping me settle and purchase several things that the appartment was missing, getting correct public transport tickets and various other things.

The cultural exchange: I think the best way to describe my time at the centre is as Cultural Exchange with German language learning course. I come from Melbourne, Australia, a city known for its multicultural atmosphere, but during my time at the centre I have met an even greater breadth of people. It really serves as a place of multitudes of people coming together: Volunteers,students and teachers from Australia, Palestine, America, Egypt, England, Syria, Morocco, Canada, Mexico and others, coming together to learning and teach various languages as well to share their culture around. I have personally attended 4 Iftars (my best so far), and have eaten more Arabic food than was necessary. In general, everyone at the centre was more than hospitable, and made my stay with the centre feel like being at home

During my time at the Excellence Center, I was able to meet incredible people with unbelievable stories in Halle while travelling all over Europe in my free time. Spending three months at the Center allowed me to get comfortable with my host family in Halle and gave me the chance to meet many incredible international volunteers. I would wholeheartedly recommend the program to anyone who values travel and cultural exchange as I struggle to imagine anywhere else where you could meet so many people from all over the world.

The Center itself is never empty, with students, volunteers and teachers moving in and out and making conversation. The day begins with breakfast where volunteers can prepare and chat before classes begin. The rest of the day is spent teaching or helping around the center; however, schedules are incredibly flexible and largely at the discretion of individual volunteers. I received German lessons every week and had between three and five classes that I taught during the week. Each student at the center is looking for something different so it was important for me to be attentive to what they were asking of me instead of what I wanted to be teaching. I am glad that I spent several months in Halle because initially I struggled to find a good balance for all my lessons but after a few weeks with each student I was much more comfortable and really felt like what I was doing was productive and helpful.

While the Center itself is in a great location, its biggest strength is by far the people working there, from the Host families to the students themselves. The community in Halle is made up of some of the most diligent and kind people I have ever met, and despite my lack of knowledge of both Arabic and German, I was still comfortable around everyone, and they were incredibly welcoming. My host family in particular were incredibly helpful and accommodating, always offering to help with my travel plans or spending the weekends with me going into town or on hikes. Beyond the local community, the center attracts the most incredible people from all over the world. In my three months I saw more than ten volunteers come and go, all of whom had interesting stories and incredible characters. The focus of the Center is on community service and thus attracts kindhearted people, but it was still shocking every time to meet a new person from a different part of the world so devoted to helping a community that they had not been a part of.

One of my personal goals while I was in Germany was to travel as much as possible. Halle is very centrally located and the railroads in Germany allowed me to visit cities all over the continent. After I took a few weeks to get settled and explore Halle, I was able to spend almost every weekend abroad. The volunteer program provides a three-day weekend and with overnight trains and busses, I was able to spend the better part of three days in a new city every weekend. Halle is only a few hours from Berlin, Dresden, and Munich, all of which have massive train stations that can take you to any part of the continent. Before coming to Germany, I had spent very little time travelling in Europe and this program turned out to be the perfect decision, allowing me to see as much as possible.

Deciding when to begin your program in Halle is very important. I did not have a proper understanding of the German winter and began my program in February, expecting to have mostly spring weather by the middle of March. In reality it was still winter up until mid-April this year so if I were to go back, I would have started my program a bit later in the year. I was able to experience easter in Germany and Austria however, as I spent the holiday with my host family and the easter markets in Halle and Vienna were filled with food and souvenirs. If possible it would also be helpful to start when you know others will be at the center. There are many more volunteers in the Summer and it is a great time to go, but when I arrived I was the only volunteer for the first week and it made it a bit harder to get accustomed to the new environment.

Ultimately my most valuable memories from the center are all the incredible people that I met and the stories that I heard. Hearing about the journeys of refugees is a sobering experience but one that I think is important for people like me, who have little exposure to it in America, to have. The refugee community in Halle continues to look forward though and is made up of some of the happiest and most positive people I have ever met. People like my teacher Muaz, the head of the Center Rafat, and volunteers like Salma Lamsaouri make the Excellence Center in Halle one of the most incredible places I have ever been.

It is absolutely daunting to find the precise words to describe my gratitude to the excellence centre, personally speaking my internship at the Excellence centre has impacted me so deeply, ether from what concerns my academic or personal level, When I came during my first time on July 2021:

I didn’t expect that my experience will influence my entire life, I come to teach English and learn German, it sounds as a very basic and normal task that a normal volunteer will do towards refugees, but the actual fact is that I didn’t plan that I will be surprised by the stuff at the Excellence centre,they were sublime, helpful and joyful, sincerely this centre has an insurmountable feeling of magnitude, everyone who comes here for the very first time wants to repeat this marvellous experience again,and yet this is what happened to me,in addition to the stuff of the Excellence centre,you meet people from different culture and indeed you expand your horizons more and more, as an international and global studies master’s student I was looking for my area of interest of perhaps I was looking for myself the genuine Salma where I could shine and give the best I can, hence I’m over the moon my last experience on July 2021 drove me to think deeply and wisely about my final thesis project, thus I tried to shed light on the issue of integration of the female women in Halle(Saale), since then my knowledge’s journey has started, I come again to centre on March 2022,where I have started my internship for roughly two months, these months were absolutely magical, each day prevails lots and lots of feelings, feeling of gratitude, hope and aspiration:

The centre has helped me to do a great deal of interviews with Syrian female refugees women in Halle, and this has broaden my knowledge to know more about their struggle and yet this will indeed help me to write a proficient master thesis, last but not least, the only thing that I can add is that I have genuinely no words to describe my gratitude and thanks to this centre, a great acquaintance from the part of the centre is Jihan,she is as well a great lady who has helped me through the centre to know and do more interviews with women:

Rafat,Radwan are the best administration members that any volunteer like myself aim to be supervised by, thank you to all the volunteers who were absolutely amazing ,helpful and terribly down to earth ,finally if there is someone who is intrigued about shaping the community coherence, this is your place..