Community Development Program/Excellence Center Review

Coming to the Excellence Center, I was drawn to the center’s mission statement of promoting cultural exchange, advocacy, and educational development through direct engagement with the people of Palestine.Upon my arrival to the center and Palestine, I was welcomed to a week's worth of engaging Arabic lessons taught by local educators in small-form classes. I greatly appreciated the welcoming environment created by my teachers and found the lessons to be especially helpful in my acclimation
to living in Hebron and my Arabic studies.
The quality of your experience with the Excellence Center will be determined by what you make of it, so I suggest entering this place with a plan, or alternatively, an open and eager mind. You will be given the opportunity to create your own lesson plans for dynamic classes of students and teaching environments, put in contact with local activists and working professionals, and you will also have access to a vastly diverse group of alternating international volunteers to befriend and/or work with throughout your time here.
People in Hebron were majorly welcoming and engaging. A day did not pass where I wasn’t offered a cup of tea and coffee, or a nice conversation with a complete stranger. I leave the center and Hebron excited to return some day soon, reinvigorated to continue supporting the Palestinian cause, and to live in Palestine once again.