worst experience ever, don't even waste your time

Ratings
Overall
1
Impact: 1
Support: 1
Fun: 1
Value: 2
Safety: 3
Review

If I going uncleound Oxford Center online, and after talking with the owner of the center, I decided to travel the 14 hour flight and give it a shot. Turns out that this guy is very shady, he's a conniving cheat, who looks out for his best interests. He told me he had a brand new apartment in the same building of the center. The center was on the first floor, and our apartment was on the 4th. He said prior to my coming that it will cost $150 a month for rent, when I got there I was persuaded to stay a month and half, and it jumped to $300 for some reason. I also specifically asked him if there was a washer and dryer and WiFi in the apartment and he reassured me that there was and there is everything in there saying the apartment was beautiful and very new. Well, come to my surprise, the apartment was so new it was literally an unfinished apartment. No hot water, no kitchen whatsoever, no stove, no furniture, no WiFi and no washer and dryer. He brought me a raggedy looking twin size bed with a blanket that looks like it was stolen from a homeless guy off the streets, there was no dresser or closet to put my clothes in so my clothes literally stayed in my suitcase the whole time I was there. Additionally, there was no mirrors anywhere, no iron, no toilet paper, plates, soap, eating utensils etc. I was extremely pissed, and only when the other volunteer and I kept nagging him, only then did he get us literally 2 coffee mugs, a plastic cheap mirror that looked like a funny mirror you find at a fun house, his parents iron, and two mini water heaters, because of course we had to boil the water, fill the bucket, add cold water to the bucket, And then take a shower. He lied about everything prior to my arrival. I spent 1500, for my ticket to help him, and while I was there I felt like I was slapped On the face everyday. I initially told him I could only stay for one month prior to my coming and he said okay as soon as I got there he kept insisting and pressuring me to stay for at least 2 months I didn't feel very comfortable but I also felt bad and I'm a very helpful and kind person so I agreed to stay for a month. he kept giving us excuses like he had no help in arranging our apartment and he is a first timer going in this as well and that he had no help from anybody, but seriously come on don't you have sisters? don't you have a mom? you as a human being use certain things and have essential basic needs for everyday life such as hot water its funny, we asked him if he would allow his sister to stay in a place like this and his famous quote is "I don't know" and then we asked again and he eventually said "no" so why would you allow your female volunteers to stay in a hole in the wall place like that especially when they're coming to help you?? he did show us around the city but I felt like he was stuck to us 24 /7 and I felt really creeped out around him he kept staring at me a lot and me being a nice person I get shy to speak out sometimes but there came a point where he really pushed my buttons and kept following me around so I distanced myself on purpose from him and I stopped conversating with him. on top of that as soon as my arrival in Tel Aviv came I requested that his uncle pick me up from the airport because I'm not very familiar with my surroundings and I'm new to the country in the end his uncle cheated me and I ended up paying 400 for the ride which is around 1500 shEkels, Later I found out the ride shouldn't cost more than 500 Shekels. His uncle used the excise that because I was interrogated at the airport for 7 ours, his uncle initially came when my plane landed and had to leave and come back again because I was still stuck inside the airport but I kept telling his uncle to go home and I'll have my cousin pick me up but his uncle insisted on staying, 1500 shekels is a ton of money for the people over there living in that country but he looked at me as being an outsider and as an American so he figured I was an easy target for him to cheat me. I loved the students I taught which were amazing they were very eager to learn but the environment was crap. ironically, I'm the one who helped him type out and correct his original contract that his lawyer brother made him do to the volunteers, it was horrible grammatical errors everywhere, so me, being an English major, he asked to correct the contract for him, towards the end I started to get fed up and decided to only teach one class which is total 10 days and when I came to leave early I asked for the remaining of my money back and he said you signed the contract its not my problem, so he didn't give me anything back. so if you decide to go over there make sure you don't sign the contract until you see the apartment you are staying in and until you make sure how long you want to stay I would advise you to pay him at the end of your visit and not in the beginning like I did. one more thing he absolutely loves taking pictures without your permission and immediately posting it on Facebook. I have told him countless times not to take my picture and not to post them on Facebook and to remove the pictures he already had up of me and he kept refusing until eventually I kept nagging him enough to take the original pictures off of Facebook.even when I would turn my face when I seen him he was about to take a picture he would still take the picture and I told him "didn't I tell you not to take pictures of me" and his reply was "well I want to take pictures of you". he is very selfish and he doesn't care about anybody but himself. And on top of that I found out he was charging the students monthly to take the course that we were teaching as volunteers and he wasn't paying us anything so he was making money off of the volunteers and off of the students. I will never ever work with this center again. Beware.

Would you recommend this program?
No, I would not
Year Completed
2014