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

I stayed in Halle for ten days during August. I met so many wonderful and interesting people from many countries and we were unified by the constant warmth, humour and food of the Syrian people who run or use the centre. Endless conversations in a glorious mix of English/German/Arabic were had. Everyone was friendly and respectful to each other and I felt very appreciated for my contribution to the work at the centre. The cultural exchange and learning was such a high point for me; whatever I taught I received in equal measure.
I had some great German lessons and overall my German has improved. Admittedly, I wasn't immersed in the German language as much as I had hoped as English was the common language between all volunteers. However, due to the welcome, kindness and friendship that I received during my stay in Halle, my experience was a very positive one.

I

I spent two weeks at the Excellence Center and the experience was very positive. I met many people of different nationalities and backgrounds, taught English to two groups, one of children and another of teenagers, and one-to-one lessons to several individials. I also had some individual German classes. And, last but not least, I got to know a lot about the everyday life and concerns of Syrian refugees in Germany. I strongly recommend it to anyone wishing to volunteer in order to do some meaningful work. As regards the city of Halle, it is small but with quite a lot of interesting things to visit. Accomodation was also very good: I stayed at the house of a very nice guy who made me feel at home from the first day and introduced my to his friends.

I volunteered at the Excellence Center for one week in August 2019.
My host mom was a lovely Sudanese woman who went to great lengths to make me feel welcome. She even invited me along to the Mosque, where she normally worked and where the kids from the neighborhood had their classes, and afterwards to their barbeque later that evening.

As for my daily routine, every day I would walk to the center, the view of the Saale river on my right. When there, I would help preparing breakfast and then enjoy it with all the other volunteers, before our day started.
Normally, I would teach one class to early teenagers, or two at most. So, I had a lot of free time to prepare for my classes and I used to spend the day looking up materials and activities with my computer.
My students were generally from Syria or Egypt and had been living in Germany for a few years, so their command of German was much better than their English. Sometimes the challenge, especially with beginners, was that they were often tempted to switch to German or Arabic, but with gestures, pictures and a lot of drawing on the board we were always able to communicate and learn new vocabulary.

I also had a total of 3 hours of Arabic classes taught by native speakers. Afterwards, I was able to say common greetings, understand the numbers and the days of the week and to tell simple things about daily activities such as working, eating and sleeping. The nicest part about the Arabic class was that my teacher would go get any other native speakers who was hanging at the center, so I could practice more and make sure I would be understood.

At the center, there's always a team leader in charge of organising activities for the group and ensuring everyone is helping out with the daily chores. All volunteers are also asked to give a presentation about their country and everyone is welcome to attend. At the end of the working week, there's usually a special activity planned. During my stay, we went for a barbecue at Peißniz, a park closeby where volunteers, students and friends were all invited to have dinner together.
In conclusion, my stay in Halle was brilliant. I really enjoyed teaching English and I found friendly people from all over the world at the center. I really recommend everyone to come and spend some time here, but for at least two weeks if you can.

From the middle of June to the middle of August I did teaching English/German volunteer for three weeks at the center. I had a great experience there.

-Teaching Experience
I taught English in one kids’ class and one individual class. Actually, I did almost nothing in my kids’ class because my partner did everything. Only what I did there is to help children individually. I also had a chance to teach German to a volunteer member who want to learn it, which was interesting for me. Sometimes we study outside or at a cafe, with seeing beautiful scenery in Halle.

-Learning Experience
I learned German and Arabic in the center. For a long time, I’ve been learning German, but it was the first time to learn Arabic. The teacher Rafat, a manager in the center was so supportive. We can practice what we have learned at any time because there are a lot of people who speak Arabic like Syrian. A few easy expressions can make our communication easily. I really liked these language courses here.

-Developing Community with Refugees
Refugees, the word is very unfamiliar for all of us in Japan. We rarely see or cannot recognize them though we heard about an unstable situation in Syria by newspapers. When I lived in Dresden in 2015, I feel something changing, however, I do not know how serious the reality is. Here I got to know some people from Syria, who are so clever and friendly despite their tough situation. They did great efforts to adapt themselves to German life. Now, I would like to do something related to refugees in Japan if I have a chance.

-Life (Homestay)
Living German itself is not new to me, but this was my first homestay. My host mother from Sudan was very nice. It was good that I met some Muslim culture.

Other volunteer staff is very supportive, kind, friendly. We understand each other though I had some difficulties in communication with them because of my English ability. I would like to visit the center someday!

I volunteered with the Excellence Centre as a volunteer teacher for English in July for about a week! It was immensely fulfilling, especially due to the exchange of knowledge and culture between myself and my tutees, as well as the fun and supportive environment with all the other volunteers. I had three students to teach as a pair and individually, and whom I had about 2-3 lessons with each that week. They were of relatively higher level in English skill, but were still incredibly passionate and eager to learn English which made teaching them so much fun!
My host family was also a joy to get to know in my week there. I practiced the little Arabic I learnt with them, ate traditional Syrian food, and taught each other things about our countries.

I spent two weeks at the Excellence Center
in June/July 2019 and learned so much even in the short time I was there. I was able to take Arabic language lessons and even go out into the community and practice what I'd learned with Arabic speakers living in the city.
I also spent time teaching students English in one-on-one sessions. I had some really incredible conversations with students in these sessions, and their perspectives on the world widened my own in many ways.
Everyone at the center was great. The center has a real community atmosphere. Scheduling and plans are pretty flexible, so as long as you're also flexible you should feel right at home.
I stayed with a Sudanese host family, and they were really wonderful. They suggested places for me to visit and helped me practice my Arabic, and just generally made me feel very welcome.

I have just spent two weeks here at the Excellence Centre in Europe and can say I have loved every minute of it! The centre staff are wonderful, I could not have asked for better hosts and teaching English to refugees has provided me with so much new experience.

I was nervous to travel as a solo female but everyone here made me feel so at home. Just go for it if you are considering volunteering here!

The interns at the centre introduced me and the other volunteers to the city upon arrival which was very insightful and prepared me for the weeks to come. Having breakfast most mornings at the centre together was a lot of fun as we were about to have a good time before getting into work for the day! I had no issues with anyone I worked with, the centre is incredibly relaxed.

Shortly, I got great experience in this excellent center. I have always wanted to interact with refugee people and help them. I got two weeks off and I wanted to spend my time on valuable experience. Even though I had only four days in the excellent center I have gotten a lot of amazing experiences. Usually, in this center, I participated in some English lessons and helped students. I felt they are eager to learn English to be able to get a job in Germany and to have a better future. In another class, we talked about different cultures and countries.

To be honest, before I came here, I did not talk a lot with people from Syria. I have been in Germany for about two months and even though I know there are a lot of refugees in Germany I did not have any opportunities to talk or interact with them. In this excellent center, I talked with young people about a lot of topics in the classroom and it was quite interesting for me. We talked about cultural differences, countries, and people. People here are very welcoming, passionate which makes me motivated and I had a lot of things to learn from them. Staying with my host family was an amazing experience and it was my highlight. I was not so familiar with Arabic culture before I came here but I experienced their culture as being a part of their family. Meeting a lot of people from different backgrounds was such a great experience and in only four days I had a lot of things to learn. This time I had a short time here, but I wish I can do it more volunteer activities in the future. Overall, I got an amazing experience in this excellent center.