Volunteer & Study Arabic In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

Hello! My name is Sude, and I'm from the United States. I recently graduated from college with a Bachelor's degree in sociology. I've been at the Excellence Center in Hebron and participating in the Human Rights Program for what has shaped up to be a very short month.
Though you may be intimidated at first by how busy the center seems, most days are actually pretty predictable. During my stay, I went on trips everyday with locals to various organizations to learn more about daily life in Hebron. I had the opportunity to visit Hebron University to learn about educational opportunities in the city, Fawwar Camp to hear from residents and to understand how they organized amongst one another to provide services that the UN could not, in addition to Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street to observe how apartheid manifests in the heart of this city. Though you may be going on these trips with large groups, I'd encourage you to take the time to speak to activists and locals one on one. This will both enrich your experience in the city and allow you a better understanding of life in Palestine. You may even find that they connect you to other organizations with whom you can volunteer.
Besides the various site visits, I was given two Arabic lessons per week to learn the Palestinian dialect. Especially if this is the first time you're learning Arabic, I'd advise that you take plenty of time outside of class to study vocabulary and grammar, in addition to trying to speak with your host family or other Hebronites who don't know English. Though the teachers at the center are great, classes are not sufficient in and of itself to learn any language. During my time here, I've also traveled to various other cities, such as Jenin and Nablus. These make for easy and exciting weekend trips. Make sure to ask the staff at the center for travel advice!
During the day-to-day operations at the Center, I loved hanging out on the steps or on the benches right outside the main entrance with the staff, students, and volunteers. All of them were incredibly hospitable and eager to have a conversation. In fact, I think I've made some of my best friends on those steps.
Initially, I'd planned to split my time in Palestine between Hebron and Jerusalem. However, after staying with my wonderful host family, I decided to scrap that idea all together. Though you may be unaccustomed to certain traditions or expectations, know that your host family will take care of you as if you were their own. I've loved spending time with them and their relatives, doing my best to speak Arabic, sipping no less than four cups of coffee during the day, and playing with the children.
Generally speaking, Hebron is a very safe and welcoming city. People are open to helping you should you need it, but you'd benefit from knowing a few essential phrases in Arabic. Most of the volunteers here spend their time outside of the center exploring the wide array of cafes on the main street. There's even one right next to a riding stable, should you want to take lessons while you're here! Now, while you're here, you best learn the art of haggling as you may be overcharged for just about any item you wish to buy. Personally, meandering through its streets with my camera in hand is when I felt most connected to this new city. Walking up towards the Old City, I often came across people who pulled me aside, asked where I was from, and without hesitation, bid me to come into their homes for tea. Once, an old man who had stopped me in my path went out of his way to walk me down another road, pointing out buildings which had seemed mundane to my untrained eye, but which were actually host to a complex history.
Palestine is an inarticulable experience. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll love your time here and leave wishing that it had lasted just a little bit longer. Just make sure that when you do leave, you take with you not only the memories of a summer abroad, but also the resounding, collective message of the people here: Free, Free Palestine

I'm a German social worker in her thirties and I spent 3 months at the Excellence Center in Hebron as a volunteer in the Women's Rights program.

For the majority of my stay I was the only one in this program, so I shared most of the activities with the volunteers from the Human Rights Program. Therefore, I not only met with specialised organisations and activistis for women's rights and empowerment of women, but also got a broad overview of the human rights situation in general thorugh meeting human rights acivists and advocates in general.

In the beginning the program manager and me planned for me to first meet a variety of representatives of the Hebronite society and have visits to different parts of the city and the nearby villages and rural areas, so as to learn about the problems and needs of women and get a better unterstanding of the societies here in general. We also planned for me to join workshops visits of women's rights organisations and subsequently offer workshops on my own, based on the women's needs and priorities.
Unfortunately it turned out to be very complicated to join other organisations in their activities, but based on the meetings and conversations I joined at the center (English club, French class, visits to the refugee camp, my Arabic lessons and informal converstations with Palestinians in general) I felt comfortable enough to offer workshops for girls and women, starting around the halfway point of my stay.

In the workshops we focused on deepening the understanding about women's rights by exchanging ideas and experineces, as well as empowerment to advocate for what they believe in and the change they want to see in their society.
I learned a lot from the women and girls and their perspectives on their rights, equality, feminism and protection from violence. I hope that I could give back a little by providing these platforms for discussing and analysing these issues and listening and respecting their viewpoints.

Part of the volunteers program were also 3 hours of Arabic lessons per week. I had some experience prior to this stay with the Egyptian and the Libanese dialect, so my goal was to learn more about the Palestinian dialect.
The lessons were mostly one-on-one, only in the last three weeks I shared the lessons with someone on a similar level due to big number of internationals coming for the summer to the center. I enjoyed the lessons throughout my whole stay because my teacher listened to what I wanted to focus on (speaking and listening). The lessons helped me a lot to improve my speaking skills in everyday situations as well as providing me with the specific vocabulary taylored to the women's rights program. After three months I feel comfortable to express my needs and navigate everyday situations as well as more complex converstaions sorrunding women's rights issues.

When I arrived at the center the groups' size was roughly a third of what it was in the last month, so I got the chance of getting to know the center's staff really well and spend a lot of time with them in and outside the center. I also formed friendships with the international students, by hanging out together in cafés and going on weekend trips together in the Westbank. The more international people came to the center and local students joined the classes, the more chaotic became the organisation of the center's activities. Personally I appreciated the flexibility in the planning and organisation, because it allowed them to adapt to my personal situation and energy level (I had to go home for a month in between and I got sick while being here), but it can be frustrating for people who want to have a steady schedule and know exactly what to expect from their program.
I advice anyone who comes to the center to clearly and respectfully communicate your needs and expectations as well as your boundaries to the center's staff, in my experience they will do everything in their power to meet your expectations and respect your boundaries.

Like most women in the program I got the chance to live with a host family and I couldn't have been happier with the placement. They welcomed me very openly in their lives and I really appreciated how they accepted me as a new family member while at the same time respecting my need for independance. I loved spending time with them, laughing and joking with them as well as having important discussions about politics and social issues, and above all I enjoyed the amazing food they cooked!

Overall the first thing that comes to my mind when reflecting on my stay here is how incredibly kind and welcoming the Palestinian society is and the amazing connections I got to form here in a relatively short period of time. I also really enjoyed the homecooked food and the beautiful nature, but in the end it is the people I got to meet here in the center, during our visits and trips and of course my host family, that made my stay here one of the most satisfying and rewarding experience of my life. As I am about to leave I'm already planning my return here because there is much more to do here than I got the chance to in these past months.

Before coming here for the first time I was lucky enough to have friends who have been to Palestine before and could tell me about their exeriences. They could therefore explain to me that the situation is really safe here for foreigners and that I don't need to worry about my safety if I just listen to the locals on what is safe and what isn't.
Overall I feel sad and frustrated about the current situation under the Israeli occupation. The many human rights violations which occur almost daily, and I almost never here about back home in Germany, were sometimes unbearably painful to observe, but I never felt worried for my own safety.

While the occupation is the strict framework of the life here in Hebron, there is so much more here to learn, to explore and to enjoy, so people should not be deterred to come here because of the occupation. The Palestinians will make the trouble of coming here worth it, that I can promise!

I'm very happy with my decision to come to the Excellence Center. I felt so welcomed in the home of my host family and it was the perfect place for me to push myself to learn more Arabic. The people I met at the center were all really interesting people from all sorts of backgrounds. Some days at the center were filled with tours and presentations and other days were more laid back. During my two weeks I visited the Old City twice, the studios of Palestinian artists, a refugee camp, and many homes of various Palestinians and had Arabic lessons with various incredible teachers. I had one presentation on human rights specifically and the rest of the activities and presentations did somewhat relate but I do wish my program more heavily focused on human rights specifically. Although I wasn't here for very long I learned a lot about Palestinian culture and what the occupation entails. I would definitely recommend the Excellence Center and I hope to return in the future!

My name is Johanna, I am 31 years old, and I was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden. I came to Palestine and the Excellence Center to study Arabic and to participate in the Women’s Rights Program for a duration of two weeks. It only took me a few days before I started to really feel at home at the Excellence Center. I also felt very welcome and comfortable with my host family right away, and it was perfect that I could be placed with a family that did not speak any English, since this gave me all the more opportunity to practice my Arabic. Staying with a host family has been among my most valuable and pleasant experiences here.

About half way through my volunteering program I decided to sign up for intensive Arabic lessons, instead of only taking three hours of lessons per week, since I wanted to focus more on the language. I have been extremely content with my teacher, Mahmood, both with his choice of material and his methods of teaching. He has tailored the lessons to my needs so that I have got the most possible out of them, while I have also enjoyed our time together in the classroom immensely, laughing and learning at the same time.

Overall, I have only positive things to say about the people at the Excellence Center, both the staff and the volunteers. There is a large diversity of backgrounds and life experience among the volunteers, but the one thing everyone at the center seems to have in common, staff as well as volunteers, is their passion for learning and growing. Sometimes this environment that is so full of life and inspiration is in stark contrast to the stories we have heard during visits to local organizations, from people we have met here, and from the local teachers at the center. We have met with activists who document crimes committed by Israeli soldiers, people who run an organization that gives women in the areas most affected by the occupation a chance to learn how to build a business model and to fund their projects, and we have visited the Fawwar camp on the outskirts of Hebron, learning about living conditions in the camp and talking to a family that lives there.

Since I came here only for two weeks, and the weekends are the only time to travel outside of Hebron, I have not had the opportunity to visit a lot of places in the West Bank. I went to Ramallah twice and also did a quick visit to Nablus, but it was on a Saturday, so there was a lot of traffic and I needed to catch the last minibus back to Hebron, which did not leave me with a lot of time to explore the city. However, what I always appreciate the most when staying in other countries is spending time with locals, which I have had many opportunities to do here. Last time in Ramallah, I met someone who works as a paramedic for the Red Cross, and he told me a story of when he had an Israeli soldier point a gun to his head because he refused to hand over the keys to the ambulance he was driving. He showed me a photo that someone took of the incident.

I cannot choose one favorite experience from my stay in Palestine, or one favorite thing about this country. I can list some concrete things that I love: the people, the landscape, the food. Of course, the atmosphere at the Excellence Center and the sense of belonging and connection that I have had with the staff and the volunteers are an important reason why I have loved it here. But in the end, the reason I need to come back is simply in how I feel, which I also cannot quite describe. There are also still a lot of places and things to see and many people left to meet. If I did not have to go back to Sweden to work, I would without a doubt have extended my stay.

Hi, I'm Chris. This Summer, I had the opportunity to participate in the Internship in Palestine program at the Excellence Center. My experience at EC was truly impactful and thought-provoking. From participating in intensive Arabic classes, human rights presentations, and teaching English, I was able to learn a great deal about the occupation and the dangers that Palestinians face in their own country each day. I felt safe the whole time I was here and I was also able to travel to other destinations in the West Bank without my safety being of any concern. I really enjoyed my time in Hebron and the experiences I had at the Excellence Center, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

My name is Garrett and I am from Texas in the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in
Palestine and at the EC. I engaged in numerous activities relating to learning and teaching
languages, visiting various locations in Palestine, and engaging with Palestinian families and
individuals.
I found my Arabic lessons at the EC to be very useful, and learned a great deal while I was in
Palestine. It is very useful to learn vocabulary at the excellence center, then go out in the streets
to practice and use the words that I learned. There is no limit to how much you can learn during
your stay. The center and Al Khalil are an excellent environment to learn and practice.
The excellence center has a very welcoming environment. You will realize immediately that
everyone at the center is very kind and helpful. They will be very happy to help you with any
questions or challenges you face.
I participated in visits and field trips almost every day that I was with the Excellence Center.
They bring volunteers to government buildings, local organizations, and beautiful natural sites.
While I was in Palestine, I visited almost all of the major cities, but one month is not enough to
see all of Palestine. I was able to visit Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, and Al-Quds. While I was
there, I was able to visit the beautiful natural sites there, and spend time in the city centers and
old cities/markets.
Living in Hebron was a seamless experience. I found the people to be very hospitable and
welcoming, and at no point did I get the feeling that the city was unsafe in any way.
I truly enjoyed my time in Palestine and it’s hard to outline my favorite thing about the country. I
thoroughly enjoyed the food, nature, and weather, but sweeter than all of these things was the
people. Everywhere I went, I found people welcoming me, curious to speak with me and help
me with whatever I needed. My time here has created a strong and lasting impression of the
country and people that will stay with me long after I return to the US.
Among my favorite experiences here was when I went up into the mountains in Halhul and ate
Sajiyya and smoked Argila while watching the sunset from atop a high vantage point.
My overall experience in the Excellence Center and Palestine at large was very pleasant, and I
genuinely hope to return one day soon. I’m thankful for the entrance into Palestinian society and
way of life that the Excellence Center provided me.

My experience at the excellent center has been nothing but amazing. The people working at the center are very welcoming and makes you feel like one of them immediately. Everything is very well organized and they care for you like family. The managers are very responsive and organize trips according to your interests which I found to be very nice. The families you stay in are also amazing and you get in touch with the local culture. The visits and trips we take together are very valuable for anyone interested in Palestine and the situation here.

The Excellence Center is located in Hebron Palestine and really is easy to get to. From Ben Gurion airport, travel to Jerusalem and from Damascus Gate it is very easy to get affordable public transportation. I felt completely safe in Hebron and highly recommend other Arabic students or those who wish to volunteer and educate themselves on Palestinian issues to visit the center.

You will be included in the family there and there are many other foreigners present to help with any issues that arise at the center.