Women's rights programme experience

Hi, my name is Zoe and I am a 19-year-old politics and economics student from the UK.

While at the Excellence Center, I participated in the women's rights programme so I spent most of my time visiting different organisations and talking to women about their experiences living and working in Palestine. It was incredibly inspiring to see their determination and creativity, even in the face of such severe challenges. I especially enjoyed meeting some of the female journalists, both at the WAFA agency and at the Al Huriya radio station. At the core of the Palestinian struggle is a fight against supression of the Palestinian perspective and false narratives propagated by the Israeli and international media. It was shocking to hear directly from these women about the ways in which the news agencies had been targeted by Israeli forces; through forced eviction from the building, nighttime raids and destruction of equipment as well as opposition in the field. While hearing about these challenges, I was especially struck by their relentlessness and courage which really highlighted the importance of the work they were doing.

The Arabic lessons at the center were very well structured, focussing on both reading and speaking. Marwa was an amazing teacher and being able to apply everything we learnt immediately talking to my host family and other people we met around Hebron made the language much easier to remember. Apparently, I’ve even picked up a slight Hebron accent! Staying with a host family was such a privilege as it allowed me to have an insider perspective on the culture and feel properly integrated into the community. I was even invited to join my family at a wedding which was an incredible experience!

The environment at the center is warm and friendly so I felt at home after no time at all. The other volunteers and staff get along very well and I have made many friends I know I will stay in contact with. One piece of advice is to try and be really open to trying new things and using all the Arabic you learn without worrying about making mistakes.

I felt safe most of the time in Hebron. There were a couple of times when we came back late from visiting other cities where it had gotten dark and I had to get a taxi home, but the other volunteers I was with were very good at making sure everyone got home safely. As with everywhere, it is important to take precautions, but I felt safe enough to travel by myself and found people friendly and eager to help.

While here, I also got the chance to visit some other cities in Palestine; Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nablus. It was really interesting to see the differences between the cities and experience a broader range of Palestinian culture. I would especially recommend Nablus- the Kanafeh there is world renowned!

After spending 2 weeks here, I would definitely love to come back! I have really enjoyed getting to know Hebron and the people here and would like to spend more time travelling throughout Palestine and further developing my understanding of the situation here. I have been incredibly struck by the warmth of the people here and the beauty of the landscape and culture so would definitely recommend visiting!