Short-Term Volunteer Projects In Palestine In 2025 (1-13 Weeks)

I joined the Excellence Center three months ago as a volunteer and I could not be happier with my experience here in Hebron, Palestine. I had searched online for a program that would afford me total immersion in the Arabic-speaking community. As soon as I came across the website of the Excellence Center, I knew I had found the right place for me. Once I arrived in Hebron, I was placed in a host family. Living with a Palestinian family was truly special and an experience I will never forget. I was welcomed with open arms and treated like a member of the family from day one. I was always included in every family occasion, including seven wedding-related events, which truly gave me a unique look into everyday Palestinian life and culture. We always enjoyed meals together (my host mother is an exquisite and passionate cook!) and I feel I have tasted almost every Palestinian dish. Most importantly, I was able to have Arabic around me at all times which helped me tremendously in my quest to learn the language. It has all been a truly heart-warming experience and I know my host family and I will be friends for life.

Teaching Palestinians English was incredible as well. Prior to the Center, I did not have any teaching experience but I realized straight away that the wonderfully supportive staff at the Center led by the director Marwa was always there to answer questions and help guide me when help was needed. My students were very eager to learn and speak English. I taught different levels and always tried to stay loyal the main goal of the Center, which is to have the students speak as much as possible and for us to create classes that are fun and motivating for the students. Volunteers are asked to be as creative as possible and this freedom in teaching makes the work here in Hebron especially fun and rewarding for us.

I have dreamed about learning the Arabic language for many years. Having completed a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies ten years ago, I had already attempted to learn Arabic once before but sadly did not continue. I always regretted this. So I finally decided to go to the Middle East this year and signed up for the volunteer program at the Excellence Center, which includes 3 hours of private Arabic lessons each week. I could not have made a better decision. On my first day I met my teacher Shayma and we started the most amazing language journey! She is the most talented, charming and motivating teacher and every day with her has been pure joy. I was so excited about my progress after eight weeks that I decided to pursue the intensive course for another month. I could not speak any Arabic at all prior to my stay here in Hebron and can now hold a basic conversation in Arabic as well as read and write. This development feels incredible and it is all thanks to Shayma's positive energy and teaching methods, which make class fun and filled with laughter. If you do your share and study daily on your own, you can really benefit from everything the Center offers. The staff is just amazing. Especially the director of the Center, Marwa, is always concerned in making your stay as perfect as possible. Her support made me feel so welcome at all times and well-taken care of. The Excellence Center has a beautiful soul and I will never forget how well I was treated in Palestine.

Marhaba! My name is Eleanor. I’m 28 years old, was born in Australia and grew up in Oxford, United Kingdom. I have been living in London for the past five years. My undergraduate degree was in Social Anthropology and History of Art/Archaeology from SOAS, University of London; I’m currently completing a masters degree in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths, University of London. For the month of June 2017, I volunteered at The Excellence Centre in Hebron, Palestine.
I also participated at The Excellence Centre last year in 2016, with the ‘Teach English, Learn Arabic’ program. This experience improved my teaching skills, providing a variety of teaching experiences, such as the opportunity to teach children, teenagers and adults. Though I had taken some beginners Arabic classes before, both experiences of living in Hebron and volunteering at the centre improved my Arabic a great deal. This year, I was signed up as a volunteer, allowing me the freedom to create my own lessons.
From the 11th to the 14th of July 2017, creative writing workshops in English were coordinated for intermediate level students at The Excellence Centre. These were organised and filmed as part of my dissertation project for an MA in Visual Anthropology. The focus was linguistic exchange, and the project was designed to watch and encourage students to express themselves in English, in a manner with which they were perhaps not used to being taught. The workshops were split into four lessons, subsequently with four primary focuses: Introduction to creative writing, Form and Rhythm, Similes, Metaphors and Descriptions and finally: Performance. The final workshop was designed to mimic an open mic or spoken word night such as that are common in the United Kingdom and United States. Overall, the project was successful with good feedback.
My Arabic lessons on both occasions both helped to me to improve my proficiency in Arabic, but perhaps the most rewarding experience in improving my knowledge of the language has been staying with a host family. I stayed with the same host family on each visit to Palestine: they are kind and welcoming, have helped me with my homework and have taught me new words. Palestinian people are very welcoming, and if you have the opportunity to stay with a host family here then it will certainly be a rewarding experience. It enlightens the visitor to the culture, and provides a comforting safety network whilst in Palestine. I have remained in touch with my own host family, and they are very dear to me. Due to their welcoming nature, I have felt very safe in Palestine.
The centre’s environment is also welcoming, in which there’s the potential to meet new people every week from around the world. Teachers and volunteers cooperate together to plan their lessons, and help each other with their Arabic study. There’s a communal kitchen in which people have their morning tea. There are site visits, and during my time at The Excellence Centre in 2017 I have visited a local glass and ceramic factory.

There is nothing quite like volunteering in the West Bank during Ramadan - I would definitely recommend the Excellence Center as a way to do this. The staff are friendly and helpful, the center is really well located and the students are generally engaged and eager to learn. Hebron is an interesting city to explore, and it is easy to travel around the rest of the country and explore. If you want to teach English and also learn Palestinian Arabic from a fantastic teacher, this is the place to do it. One thing I would recommend for potential volunteers is to adapt to the Palestinian pace of life - things don't always get organised as promptly as they might do at home. But as soon as you get used to this, you are bound to have a great time.

I did not know what to expect coming to Hebron. I have over the years traveled enough to know that there is a difference between what we hear about a place as it is filtered through certain narratives or news services and reality as it is daily experienced, but I was still nevertheless unsure, probably because Hebron is one of the most unique places in the Holy Land.
I spent my time at the Excellence Centre writing articles and assisting the other volunteers in their classes. My daily duties involved speaking to the staff and students and doing research for the articles while attending the occasional lesson with one of the teachers. Daily, the Center was a hive of activity, students of all ages and all abilities attend the Excellence Center and after time I had become good friends with many of them. My favorite day was always the food day. The Excellence Center are very big proponents of informal conversational English training – a component missing from the Palestinian curriculum. For the teachers this means a relaxed teaching environment, and for everyone else this means food days. On these days, a volunteer would cook a dish from their country and the students would bring food from home. With each day starting with a Palestinian breakfast, the days would go quick – there was always something to do or someone to speak to.
As well as these activities, I also took Arabic lessons. The Center provides these to volunteers and the lessons are done one on one. As the teachers are experienced and trained in teaching methods, these classes improved my non-existent Arabic to a level I thought was not possible. I enjoyed these lessons so much (and my teacher, Do’a of whom I would recommend to anyone) that once my volunteering time was finished, I undertook an extra week of Arabic lessons with Do’a, and am hoping to continue with her when I return home.
Of course, being in Palestine, I wanted to travel and see the region and the Center were able to assist with this as well. I visited a nearby refugee camp where we had lunch with a family, visited a nearby village and meet the mayor after being driven through the beautiful surrounding hills. Mid-way through my stay, I was also taken on a tour of Hebron where I saw Abraham’s Oak. As at the time of writing this, I have also planned a trip to a Bedouin community in my last week in Hebron. Each tour is perfectly planned, all a volunteer has to do is express an interest and then show up at the Center, the rest is taken care of.
In all, the Excellence Center has been the perfect place from which to not only see Hebron, but to experience it. The staff members treat everyone like an extended family while Marwa is the perfect boss. Hebron itself can be hard to describe, it is not like Ramallah, nor does it match Jerusalem in its religious splendor. The city though has a distinctive flow, a rhythm that originates from the Palestinians who live there. It is this, this unique flow that Hebron moves to, that is the city’s true gift. It certainly has its troubles, and some days are reminders that this place is a hotly contested city between two groups of determined people, but despite this, or maybe even because of this, Hebron still takes a hold of you and in return provides an insight into Palestine that you will unlikely get anywhere else.
Stephen Hindes

My name is Syazana and I am from Singapore. I am 20 years old and just recently graduated with a Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism. I participated in the program, Volunteer in Palestine for about a week.

I participated volunteering works such as assisting a teacher teaching for one of the classes conducted at the center, conducted my own English lesson with two other volunteers at a local school, and also learn basic Arabic Language. This was a first for me as I’ve never done any teaching before, what more to students of many ages which ranged from as young as 10 years old to as old as working adults. It was also an experience trying to teach them with our language barrier.

Learning the Arabic language here was also a great opportunity for me to be able to expand on my Arabic language knowledge. I learnt very minimal basic Arabic back in Singapore and thus being able to learn the dialect here was fun. I can even apply them practically in or out of the center with the locals here. However, it is quite sad that I only get to learn very basic Arabic here due to my short stay with the center.

The staff at the center are very friendly and nice. They’re always welcoming me by making tea and breakfast at the start of the day. Breakfast at the center is a great time to socialize with the staff and other international volunteers here. During my short stay here, I was able to make friends with 4 other volunteers from countries such as Mexico, America, and London. The students at the center are very enthusiastic as they are very keen to learn English. It is really fun to be able to teach the students here.

The center brings volunteers to places in Hebron such as the Old City, the Ibrahimi Mosque, and also a glass and ceramic factory. The Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque is one of the few tourist attraction in Hebron. It holds a rich history and thus the trip there was very engaging as I was able to learn about some history of Hebron. The glass and ceramic factory visit was an experience too as I was able to witness how the ceramics are being made before it is ready for sale. Other than the site visits that the center brought us to, I went to outside of Hebron on my off day. As I went for the volunteering program together with my sister, we went to visit Jerusalem for a day visit. We visited the famous Old City in Jerusalem as well as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

During our stay here, I was attached to a host family together with my sister. Our host family was very friendly and welcomed us with open arms. They always provided us with whatever they could to ensure that we could adjust to living in Hebron. We learnt a lot while staying with them - their culture, their family, their traditions, the Hebron lifestyle, and the conflict with Israel and how it affects the lives of Palestinians, including our host family. Over dinner, we get to enjoy the host family’s home-cooked Palestinian food, and listen to the family converse in Arabic; a great way for us to pick up and learn the Arabic language here.

We love everything about Palestine - the food, the people, and the scenery. The food here is really delicious, a great opportunity to try out different types of local food that our home country doesn’t serve. The people here are very friendly. They will try to converse with you even though they can’t speak English fluently, and will be more than happy to help you out. Palestinians also get very excited when they see foreigners. They will ask where you’re from and welcome you to Palestine, wishing you a great stay here. The scenery here is very different from Singapore. The architecture is different as there are many high-rise buildings in Singapore compared to Palestine. The weather here is different too. Palestine experiences the 4 seasons while Singapore is very humid and either sunny or rainy. We were able to experience the end of their spring season and the beginning of their summer season. It is chilly in the morning and night, but very hot and sunny in the afternoon.

Safety and security of living in Palestine is one of the many concerns of tourists who’d like to visit Palestine. However, fret not. Although there are many checkpoints along Palestine and many armed soldiers stationed everywhere, I do feel safe. My sister and I did experience some difficulty at Tel Aviv when we first reached Israel but we were able to make it to Hebron safely.

My stay here in Hebron has been really great and I would recommend to others who are keen on doing volunteering works in Palestine, to those who are keen on learning the Arabic language, or even to those who want to visit Palestine as a tourist. I’ve learnt a lot of valuable things here and would not mind coming back again in the future.

I am Khairunisa from Singapore. I just graduated from university last year and after completing a contract job, I am now on a break. I wanted to do something meaningful during this break and so after searching on the net for volunteering opportunities, I decided to sign up for the ‘Volunteer in Palestine’ program at the Excellence Center together with my younger sister. We stayed in Hebron for a week but even with the short visit, it was a very meaningful and enjoyable experience.

We were warmly greeted by the staff here at the Excellence Center on our first day. After a long and tiring journey, we were really delighted when they prepared for us lunch. The staff here are very friendly and are always making sure that we are alright, especially if we have any difficulties or problems. We start our days with breakfast at the Excellence Center every morning so it was very easy for us to converse with one another. It was a good time to ask about the Palestinian culture and lifestyle, and also for the volunteers to share with one another their experiences here.

We were also greeted by our host brother on our first day. Our host family are not fluent in english except for one of the sisters. However, we were still able to converse about many things such as our traditions, cultures, and lifestyle. I really enjoyed having a home stay as it really allowed us to experience the daily lifestyle here and be part of their family. Our host family had a ten-year-old girl and it was a pleasure to meet her as it reminds me of my youngest sister back in Singapore. We joined their family every night after a day at the Excellence Center. Some nights, we would be sitting outside their home, enjoying the night, and at some nights we would be watching television together. We also got to try their homemade food for dinner. It was really good and I really enjoyed trying Palestinian food here. They even made us for dessert too! We were really touched by it. As we spent a week together, I’ve made good friends with the family and I am really sad to leave them.

As our stay here was very short, the staff at the Excellence Center tried their very best to ensure that we could make the most out of our time here. We started our first few days with Arabic lessons with one of the teachers here. As we learnt standard Arabic back in Singapore, we did not know any Palestinian Arabic. Our Arabic teacher helped to equip us with basic Palestinian Arabic so we could converse with the locals here. The lessons here are conducted on a one-to-one basis so for our case, we got to take the lessons together. It was very useful as the lessons could be catered to our pace and our prior knowledge of Arabic.

Other than learning Arabic, the staff at the Excellence Center brings the volunteers around Hebron. We got to visit the Old City and the Ibrahimi Mosque. We were especially interested to visit the Ibrahimi Mosque as it is one of the religious places here in Palestine. As we are Muslims, we were very happy to visit the place where the Prophet Ibrahim and his wife, were buried. With a staff bringing us around, we got to learn the historical and cultural context of the places. We also went to a ceramic and glass factory where we got to see for ourselves how they make their glass and ceramic products. As we visited the factory, it was convenient to buy some souvenirs for ourselves and families at a good discount!

Also not forgetting our main intention to visit Palestine, we got to help out with the English lessons conducted here. We were given the opportunity to assist a teacher in her English lesson and visit a school to conduct a conversational English lesson for beginners. The students at the Excellence Center are of various ages, ranging from as young as ten years old to working adults. it was a good opportunity for us to try teaching different groups of students with different levels of the English language. Even though there were some language barrier, the students here are very determined to learn English and will try their best to take part in lessons. On days where we did not teach English, we were assigned to write articles for the Excellence Center.

Just like others, we were a bit worried about safety, especially our parents, as the journey from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Hebron was long. Even though we experienced some tight security at the airport, the journey to Hebron was a smooth one. It is very safe here, even for female travellers. Even without any basic Arabic, the Palestinians are very helpful, so we could always count on them whenever we faced any difficulties such as when searching for directions. Unlike what is portrayed in media, it is safe to travel around Palestine.

We really enjoyed our stay here in Palestine. We would definitely recommend anybody who wants to try experience the lifestyle here. There are various programmes such as learning Arabic and teaching English. You not only get to learn the culture here but also have a meaningful trip by helping the people here. Even though our trip was extremely short, we really enjoyed it and learnt a lot. We are definitely looking forward to our next trip here.

My name is Javier Trescoli, 24 year old political science student from Valencia, Spain. I participated in the Teach English, Learn Arabic (TESA) for two months, March and April. My main interest was being somehow useful, start learning Arabic and to see first hand the reality of the Palestinian -Israeli conflict. I will leave in a few days with recious memories, new friends and the promise of coming back.

The experience has been brilliant, far better than expected. I didn't have many expectations to be honest, as I simply did not know what to expect! But taking in account where I was going and what I was doing it was unavoidable to have some kind of idea of what it could or should be.

My arrival did go a bit off. Oblivous me decided to use the Israeli bus line to Hebron becuase it was cheaper instead of following the clear instructions that Rafat sent me and that were there for a areason. I'll just say I was stuck in Israeli Hebron for a few hours. But thanks to Marwa and Rafat I got out of there (the IDF wouldn't let me pass the controls). I was happily received by Sheikh and thus, the real adventure in Hebron began.

From day one, the Center helps you adapt to the rythm and activities, which is constant and dynamic. It's simple to feel good vibes from the very beginning and this helps you be energetic and creative! The sense of community and belonging starts with the daily breakfast and the Center and it reinforced once I got a regular schedule. The fact the staff were so welcoming and predisposed to make you feel comfortable and the students get so excited when a you walk in class, makes it really easy to adapt quickly and enjoy fully the experience! As a volunteer, I understood I belonged to the organisation and adapted as soon as possible to its pace. Nevertheless, Marwa, (the boss who likes joking!), was ready to listen to my issues or complaints and was flexible about picking free days, which improves the experience itself.

As a volunteer, my activities were many and varied at the beginning, from assisting one of the teachers in their classes, leading a class myself, organising a workshop for a business and a English Club. Each one had their own challenges and I remember everything being kinda chaotic in my head. Everyday was a different adventure and you were constanty in new situations, which personally, was pretty exciting for me. But after a week and a half later, I got a more stable schedule. I began teaching with a fellow volunteer three different levels on a weekly basis and participated in their lessons with fellow teachers. It is rewarding to spend six or seven weeks teaching the same class because it deepens the relationship with the students, making the classes far more enjoyable. Of course, there were a few kids who made teaching difficult but this proved useful to develop class managemnt skills, a quite relevant aspect of teaching and one I had not needed as I had always been a private tutor back in Spain.

As for my Arabic, it wasn't only an enrichening experience from a knowledge perspective but also from a cultural and personal point of view. I was specially lucky with my teacher, Du'a, who was very encouraging and quickly saw my particular style of learning and adapted herself to it. Thanks to her, I can say that I will leave Palestine with the my initial objective accomplished with Arabic. Sadly, I feel because of my university work and a lack of disicipline I wasn't able to make the most of learning the language. If you systematically practice and work at home, it can be very easy to progress. Nothing like living in a country to learn the language.

As for life in Hebron it can be quite conservative, even for Palestinian standards, as you will notice when you visit other towns in the West Bank, such as Ramallah and Bethlehem. The change can be very drastic if one lives in a never sleeping city from the West. There is no such thing as nightlife and anything associated to it, but don't worry, you won't need it! I lived in a house with other male volunteers which is rented to the Excellence Center and it has developed into a great bro community and I leave Hebron hoping to see them again. Any issue that was house related was diligently taken care by Abbot Sheikh. He also makes whatever is possible to make your life as enjoyable and comfortable as possible, inviting you to his house for shisha and tea, specially during important football games. His smile never fails to cheer me up.

One of the main concerns, if not the most worrying, for any volunteer might be the Israeli Occupation of Hebron specifically and Palestine in general. This is a reasonable concern as Western media and general public perception portray the situation as highly unstable and risky. Nevertheless, this is not the case.

Don't get this statement wrong. The Occupation is a real issue and affects the daily lives and routine of every Palestinian in an unjust and unfair manner but it never gets to affect the daily lives and routine of the volunteer themselves (unless you did something wrong). The Occupations does not affect directly the Western volunteers. We have no problems crossing checkpoints, the laws that rule Palestinians don't affect us and we are even considered as individuals that must be protected by Israeli authorities. Hebron itself, (aside from H2, the Israeli occupied part) is safe for any volunteer as I soon noticed arriving there.

The best of Palestine are clearly, without doubt, the people. All of this would have been a completely different experience if the Palestinians would have had a different attitude towards me. From the butcher who invites you to tea and the baker who asks where you are from and gets excited when you respond in Arabic; to the driver of the minibus who makes sure you arrive safely to your destination and the random strangers who will do their honest best to help you in any way possible; to lastly, the students, especially those who put real effort to learn english and invite you to their homes to meet their families aswell as the teachers and staff, who are always helpful and genuinely concerned about you, which with time made me develop a feeling of connection and belonging to the Hebron community at large and to the Excellence Center in particular.

I did not travel around Palestine, which will be one of my objectives for the next time I come back. Because I enjoyed so much the small community of the Excellence Center I preferred to stay there the last week and enjoy furthermore the experience. I personally reccommend the experience to anybody ready to live what it is to be an English teacher in Palestine. I t may seem redundant what I have just said but what I'm really talking about is the mindset. Your mindset can make a total difference between a great experience and a forgettable one. I look forward to coming back to the Excellence Center in Hebron. Inshallah!

We are 2 sisters (Sahar and Shahoudah) from Mauritius Island and we have been Teaching English and Learning Arabic as volunteers at the Excellence Center for 2 weeks. Before coming to Palestine, we sometimes felt anxious about how to reach and live in Palestine and Hebron safely. Mr Rafat Shantir has always been assisting us in the procedures and necessary information through Skype, emails and WhatsApp until we reach. On reaching Palestine on the first day itself, we felt overwhelmed by the sceneries of the country and the hospitality of the people and realized that we had unnecessary worries before coming and that our stay would be too short.
The staff of the EC were both professional and friendly at the same time and thus creating a pleasant working environment. We were introduced to our host family on the first day at the EC and met the other international volunteers. Teaching and learning takes place through activities at the EC, outside the EC and in partnership with other schools in the region for different levels of students. During the two weeks, we have been to Kharas and some other schools to teach English. We have also been to the Hebron Polytechnic University for a workshop on the Spelling Bee Competition. The experience was always a win-win situation for both the students and us. Students could learn from us and we also learn so much from them about their culture and about things we would not get to know on Palestine through the media.
At the EC, the lesson usually starts within the classroom and ends with practical exercises about real life situations outside the classroom. There is also an English Club at the EC in which we could help students practice conversational English. One of the activities conducted was to teach students how to order food/ drink in a coffee shop or restaurant. The lesson started in class and continued in a coffee shop or visiting a hotel (Plaza hotel). The students in Hebron are always keen about learning the English language and other cultures. The motivation of the pupils also motivated us to give the best of ourselves not only to teach but to teach with our hearts.
We also had Arabic classes with Mariam, an Arabic teacher, at the EC. The level of our Arabic was very basic and Mariam could make learning Arabic more fun. At the end of the 2 weeks we could easily negotiate prices while shopping or with the taxi driver in Arabic. We could also converse with some words with students in Arabic.

Fridays are holidays in Palestine and we are given one day off per week at the EC. We thought that we would not have enough time to visit in the nearby region or socialize with other more people. But the EC caters for the internationals volunteers and organize regular outings from the Centre with other internationals e.g we have been at the Al Maskobiya Church, Camel Shop. Our host family also caters for our stay in Hebron. We were accompanied to the Old city of Hebron and Ibrahimi Mosque on our day off. On Fridays, we have been to Jerusalem and we could also visit Jericho during our short stay. All the places were physically and spiritually beautiful. We neither felt lonely nor unsafe at any time because Palestinians are always enthusiastic to help and give details about the history of the country. Palestine is a country which cannot be understood neither in books nor internet but only by experiencing it.