Medical and Healthcare Programme

My name is Alicia, I am 22 years old from the United Kingdom and I came to the excellence center to participate in the healthcare programme for 5 weeks, however I went on to extend it to 7 weeks.
During my 7 weeks at the center, I did healthcare specific visits such as visits to hospitals, meeting healthcare professionals, went to a women’s rights clinics which had a healthcare center attached, visited the al fawwar camp where I visited the health center and went to 2 different nursing colleges. Additionally, I did a 3-part nursing workshop with nursing students. I also did other activities which were specific to other programs such as going to the tourism office, going to the human rights defenders office, meeting a lawyer, going to the special educational needs school, the blind school, the art gallery, the palmotion office, went to the H2 area, had a tour of the old city, went to the ceramic factory, the kafiya factory, the Bedouin villages, a children’s center, the women’s kitchen and finally I also had some opportunities to help the teachers at the center in their lessons.
Throughout my time here I had weekly Arabic lessons, I didn’t know any Arabic before arriving, but I know I have now progressed with the alphabet and being able to read.
I have found all the staff, other volunteers, and students at the center to be incredible. I knew before coming that it was going to be an amazing experience, but nothing could prepare me for how kind and welcoming everyone would be.
During my free time I also visited other cities such as Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem.
Living with my host family has been one of the greatest experiences I have ever had, my host mum, host dad and their children are a beautiful and kind family and made me feel welcome and part of their family as soon as I arrived. Their extended family have also been so welcoming and have included me in everything they have done. I am so lucky to have met them all and truly feel like I now have a second family here in Hebron and I am already planning to come back and visit them, any volunteer who has the chance to stay with this family are incredibly blessed.
Hebron is a beautiful city, and its people are so kind, and the 7 weeks here has gone incredibly fast. For the majority of the time, I felt safe in Palestine and the staff were always willing to assist with whatever questions or help you need
There are so many things I loved about my stay here so it is hard to choose one specific aspect, however, the thing I will cherish the most when I go home will be the people I have met and the hospitality shown, the host family, the teachers, the other foreigners, and everybody else I have met have shown me a kindness I have never been shown before!
The most important thing I wanted to mention about the center are the incredible teachers, I think they truly make the centre and without them the experience would not have even been half of what it has been. They are the greatest group of people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting- Amani, Anas, Duha, Ibrahi, Isaac, Khitam, Mahmoud, Mamon, Marwa and Saja are so kind, caring, compassionate and never fail to put a smile on our faces! Getting to know them has been one of the greatest experiences and they are an absolute credit to the centre and anyone who has the oppurtunity to meet them will be very lucky.