Excellent experience, at a fantastic place

Hello everyone, I’m Adam from the UK and I have had the absolute pleasure of volunteering at the excellence centre for the past three weeks. During this time I have been able to tick many boxes off my list. Not only have I been able to visit Palestine, I have been able to engage with the community and be truly immersed in the culture.
The daily struggle of the Palestinian people is one I hold dear to my heart having grown up watching the situation, so to have the opportunity to volunteer here has been amazing. During my three weeks I have visited Jerusalem, Bethlehem, refugee camps and also the Bediun areas where we got to see and talk to people who had built caves underground to live because the IDF were destroying whatever structures they made above ground.
It was very important for me to not just come to Palestine as a tourist but to volunteer and help the community any way I could. At the excellence centre I was able to participate in English classes, which allowed me to interact with Palestinian youths, to laugh and organize games as well as other fun lesson activities. This was an extremely rewarding activity and as this was my first time teaching… anything.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect or even do. The other volunteers here and the staff were so supportive and I managed to pick it up and roll with it. I also did the Arabic study option, as a beginner in Arabic the classes were very informative and gave me enough to have a conversation which is an added bonus.
The excellence centre is an extremely welcoming place, where everyone is more than happy to help. I guess this just reflects the overall Palestinian culture and the vibe I got in the west bank. From the moment I arrived by bus late at night I had already been driven to the centre by a lovely family and brought up stairs by another family to have coffee and cake whilst waiting for staff to come back.

This was my first glimpse into what I could expect in Palestine and over the last 3 weeks, moments like this where I have been shown extreme generosity are very common, actually. My experience here has been filled with special moments due to coming during Ramadan. The feeling of sitting around at a table with new friends whilst waiting for the aathan to start is a something I won’t forget.
Coming during this time period also meant we got the chance to be invited to local people’s houses and experience a true Palestinian iftar which, if I’m being honest with you guys. The food itself is enough to make me want to come back. The falafel and hummus will forever haunt my dreams and the rice and chicken dishes are second to none. But back to a more serious note, my time here living in the West bank has been an experience full of firsts and hopefully not the lasts. Until next time.