Short Term Volunteer Projects In Germany (1-13 Weeks)

We were only able to come assist and be in Halle for a week but the staff were very accommodating and welcoming of our circumstances. Every person here has built a tight-knit but friendly community and you will have an amazing experience learning, teaching and eating with volunteers, staff and students alike!

Halle is also a wonderful city and public transport is very straightforward to use and get around with! We were able to go between Berlin and the Center for a good price! You will also have no shortage of people who are willing to help you here, but I would recommend at least teensy bit of German to get around!

I have loved my experience at the Excellence Center, I have learned so much about the refugee experience in Halle, and German/Syrian culture. I stayed with a host family, who were extremely welcoming and generous, and I felt well supported by everyone at the Center. There were lots of opportunities to socialise with the other volunteers and colleagues. I would recommend the program to anyone who wants to learn German/Arabic, teach motivated students, try delicious food, and travel - Halle is well situated for visiting European cities at the weekends.

My experience at the Excellence Centre in Halle was fantastic. I was very impressed by the way Rafat and Radwan manage the centre. They are extremely welcoming and caring.

I have enjoyed every part of my stay in Halle :
I had never taught English to people not speaking my native language, especially children but the students are so motivated that it is a real pleasure. As we teach 1 to 1 or very small group I have been able to get to know my students and their aspirations.
I have learned so much about the refugees' situation in Halle and more broadly in Germany thanks to all the discussions with the students, team members and presentations made by other volunteers on internship programmes.

My host mum was also extremely nice and shared a lot with me and the other volunteer she hosted. She included us to her life so naturally. We have met her friends and family, cooked together, spent hours talking and watching movies.. and all in German, it was just perfect !

I cannot believe how many friends I made in such a short period of time. I will definitely come back and hope to see my little students in France one day.

My recommendation: do not waste any minute. Time flies. Be proactive and do not wait for things to happen. People here have so much to offer !

I volunteered with the Excellence Center for a week. I was doing an internship in Berlin and I wanted to do something meaningful before I went back to America, so I googled refugee centers and I found the Excellence Center.
When I got accepted in the program, Rafat was very helpful finding me a host family and my host family were some Syrian refugees. They did not speak much English and I did not speak much German but they did their best at making me feel welcomed. The first day, they made dinner for me and would always feed me.
In addition, being at the center, all of the staff made me feel welcomed and at home. Being away from home, Rafat made the experience feel like I was at home with the breakfast served every morning and the going away dinner.
This is my first time teaching of any sort and I was a little nervous and I didn't know what to expect but the other volunteers helped me get the ropes of things. Since I stayed for a week I had 1 student who was a refugee from Yemen and he was very eager to learn. After leaving the Excellence Center, I found a passion to teach people and impact others in that way.

I am Chaima, I came from the UK to teach English and learn German here in Halle, Germany. My aim when applying for this was to acquire more experience in teaching English abroad and attempting to improve my German by being in Germany and attending one-to-one lessons with a teacher. I was also very intrigued by Rafat’s approach in combining a language and community-led project both in Halle, Germany and in Hebron, Palestine.

Coming to the centre everyday was pleasure. Every morning, we would gather for with all the volunteers and have a typical Palestinian breakfast. I have really appreciated this welcoming tradition that set us well for our day. We would then all attend our respectful tasks of the day.

My experience in Halle has been diverse and culturally rich. I have enjoyed teaching different students from different backgrounds and discussing teaching methods and styles with the teachers and volunteers in the centre. The city of Halle is rich of its people, native of this city, and those who have moved and settled here. During my short time, I have been able to meet people from different countries in the Middle-East, each of them have a story and bring a stone to the edifice that is this place.

I have also had the privilege of observing the way the excellence centre operates. I have come to really admire the space that is given to the community here. The centre provides a safe place for students of all ages to get the help needed after school with teachers or/and other students of higher grades. This place builds a bridge between the newly settled communities and the school system. This truly can build their confidence and help them overcome any language barrier hindering them from excelling in their education.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my weeks here in Halle and come out grown from this experience.

I had a really great time at Excellence Centre Europe and it was an amazing learning experience. Everyone was very kind to welcome me, and I really appreciated the daily communal breakfast. It was a brilliant way to get to know people at the centre at a deeper level, especially since our activities were largely individual. I had some truly wonderful conversations over these meals, and the food itself was also fantastic.

I was initially apprehensive about coming all the way to Germany from Singapore for this volunteering stint, but I am very glad I did so. I definitely do not regret coming here! Not only are the people great, the Excellence Centre has also set up a good system so that the volunteers, as well as the students, benefit from the experience. I really appreciate the chance to enter into the lives of the students here in Halle and to get to know them on a personal level. Most of my classes were centred around conversation, so I had many opportunities to learn about their lives and to briefly experience the world from their point of view. I definitely learnt a lot from my time at the Excellence Centre.

The Excellence Center in Europe is quite a unique place and it doesn’t really do it justice or even fit in terms of calling it a language school. It’s actually a cultural center where Arabic speaking students from a diverse number of countries including but not limited to Palestine, Syria, Yemen, and others come to learn English and teach the Arabic language to individuals from all over the world coming to the center. I studied German and taught English there for two months in the fall of 2021. My German classes were either private classes or with just one other student, focused on real world speaking skills, conducted both at the center and outside in town. My teacher was superb. The town of Halle is also a huge factor in making the overall experience here truly outstanding. Halle is a small city, but culturally rich, and drenched with the feel of both the old East Germany and pre World War 2 Germany. In addition, the city of Leipzig is only 45 minutes away by train and offers many of the amenities of much bigger cities such as Berlin, but without the hassles and downsides of huge cities.

My four weeks at the Excellence Center has been a very rewarding experience that will stay with me for a long time. I got the chance to meet wonderful people who are doing great things for their community. I have come to admire Rafat and his work in providing a safe space for people to come and learn English and also receive tutoring services. I have had the chance to be surrounded by people from the Arabic community that I would have never had in the United States, and I am really grateful for that.

I also had the chance to meet other volunteers, and in my free time I was able to travel and see other parts of Germany. This program is also a great way to gain some teaching experience and you are encouraged to make your own schedule with your students, so the atmosphere is really relaxed. At the same time, I also received German lessons in which I was able to brush up on what I already knew and learn a lot in real-life settings, not only in the classroom. Overall, I had a great time and I’m sad to leave so soon.