Women's Rights Program

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!