Volunteer & Study Arabic In Palestine (1-13 Weeks)

The time spent getting to know the people of Hebron and working with the Excellence Centre has invaluable beyond belief. Every day here is new, different, exciting and fun. The people at the centre and within the local community are the most generous and welcoming I have ever met.
I came with no experience teaching but was able to participate fully in classes with the guidance of teachers and other volunteers.
The enthusiasm of the students makes the work all the more rewarding, and I was able to become good friends with many wonderful people through my classes.
To anyone considering undertaking this course, regardless of any prior Arabic language knowledge I would very much recommend it!

Thank you so so so much to everyone at the centre again!

The Excellence Center truly lives up to its name. The staff and volunteers during my stay were welcoming, personable, and accommodating. They are incredibly receptive to any problems that you may bring up and will work with you to find a solution. Not only are the staff wonderful, but the Center attracts interesting and genuine people, helping you to find strong friends in the other volunteers. By the end of just two weeks, I truly felt that I was a part of the community at the Excellence Center. I took three hours of Palestinian Arabic lessons a week and helped out with both group and private English lessons.
While at the Excellence Center, I was able to take several short trips around Hebron and Palestine. For example, during my stay the staff organized a trip to Susiya, a Palestinian village sandwiched between settlements, and the Old City center of Hebron. Outside of formally organized excursions, I was able to travel to Battir, Bethlehem, and Mar Saba (a functional monastery in the desert outside of Bethlehem; it is a definite must-see as far as tourist sites go) with other volunteers. Within the city, Hebron is very walkable, and people are very helpful if you need directions.
Western impressions of Palestine cast it as a dangerous place. Being in Hebron directly contradicts this picture. With normal traveling precautions, such as respecting the culture and following local news, Palestine is a very safe place for international travel. If you have specific questions about safety, such as good times of day to travel and places to be more careful in, both the staff and your host family are invaluable resources to learn the specifics of how to get around in Palestine.
The lasting impression that I have of Palestine is the extreme hospitality and generosity of its people. On New Year’s Eve, I left the Excellence Center late and had difficulty finding a service back to my host family’s home. My host mother’s sister, whom I had never met before, quickly picked me up from the Excellence Center and insisted that I come to her home. We ended up going to her in-law’s house and I spent several hours being stuffed with food and laughing my way through conversation in Arabic. Finally, we went out driving to celebrate, and we rang in the New Year with a fruity smoothie on Ein Sarah St. At this point, she insisted that I spend the night at her house. This whirlwind evening was one of my favorite experiences in Palestine. While this was the most extreme example of the generosity of Palestinians that I encountered, many other times people invited me to share a meal, coffee, or sahlab (a warm winter drink).
My best advice for a future volunteer is to stay longer in Palestine! If you have the ability, a longer stay in Hebron is ideal as it gives you the chance to see more of Palestine and spend more time with the staff and volunteers at the Excellence Center. I believe that the best way to see Palestine is through the Excellence Center. The programs are flexible based off both your needs and the Center’s needs, and you can have degrees of autonomy or planned activities with the Center as suits your needs. Volunteering with the Center gives substance to your time in Palestine, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to travel to Hebron.

I spent two months at the Excellence Center in Hebron participating in the 'Teach English and Study Arabic' program which turned out to be a memorable experience. I received three hours a week of Arabic lessons from the wonderful teachers Dua'a and Isaac and learnt more than I expected which has inspired me to continue my Arabic studies. The teaching aspects of the program gave me a broad experience as I assisted the full-time teachers, taught independently and also gave 1 on 1 classes. This gave me valuable experience and insight into the various teaching methods and skills. All the teachers and staff at the Excellence Center are highly skilled and professional and design schedules and programs which cater to each volunteer's needs and level of experience. Not only was my time at the center a great academic experience, I also met so many wonderful people (both staff and volunteers) and found the center to have a very strong family (love) environment. The city of Hebron itself is also great to live in. As it is quite off the tourist trail, the locals are very welcoming and hospitable to foreigners. I was invited over for dinner several times and made friends with many of the locals.
In contrast to what mainstream news may say, Hebron (and Palestine in general) is safe. In my two months of living in Hebron, not once did I feel unsafe or threatened in anyway whatsoever. I think however, it is wise for anyone considering coming to Hebron to do a good amount of research on the city in order to gain an understanding of the situation in the city and its significant religious history.
For me, arguably the most rewarding aspect of my time in Hebron, was learning about Palestine, the culture, traditions, politics, religion, the people etc, all through first hand experience of living here. I also had the opportunity to travel to other cities/places in Palestine, both through trips organised by the center and by myself during my days off. I will miss my time in Palestine and hope to return someday.
Thank you for a wonderful time!

Jamaila, French-Algerian living in Barcelona Spain.

For me coming to Palestine was a dream come true. I came to The Excellence Centre as a volunteer writing articles about life in Palestine, teaching and learning Arabic. Once advice, "expect the unexpected in Palestine."

What you will see here is people wanting to go about their lives like you do at home. I have gone to the gym, to restaurants, I have travelled by myself. I honestly felt safer here than in my own European cities. But mostly I have witnessed how the Palestinians value the importance of family and friends, of welcome a visitor and always having a spare dinner plate for them.

This is why I think The EC is doing an excellent job:
- bringing visitors to Palestine
- mixing the local community with English-speaking foreigners

I really loved staying with a host family that has been like a second family to me, I have been invited to dinner and lunch daily. I had lessons with Marwa, she has been incredible and gave me the confidence I needed to learn basic Arabic.

I have witnessed the reality of the occupation for the Palestinians but they have kept their spirits up, they still have hope for the future. One of their hopes is to see more of you in Palestine. Each visitors brings with them a window into the world and takes with them unforgettable memories of wonderful people.

Again, please please come to Palestine, come to Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem and any other Palestinian City.

My name is Calum, I’m 21 and have recently graduated from the University of Dundee studying Politics and International Relations, with a sub concentration in the Middle East. Having graduated and not had the opportunity to learn Arabic I was keen to find ways to learn such an important and useful language, not just for employment but also for travelling. I set about looking for programs and courses that would give me a truly immersive experience and this is where I found the Excellence Centre, and I have not looked back since.

I chose the volunteering and learn Arabic option, as I not only wanted to learn the language but also meet people under the occupation and learn first-hand the difficulties of the situation. Having had no experience in teaching before I found my time in the classroom thoroughly joyful. I was eased into being an assistant and look forward to every lesson I had, as the kids were great and so eager to learn.

I had 3 hours a week of Arabic with my teacher Marwa, who made the learning of this daunting and completely new language fun, interactive and worthwhile. She was patient, encouraging and very supportive, everything you will need in a teacher and more. We always went at my pace and anything I didn’t understand was quickly and expertly explained to me. I came away from every lesson feeling more and more confident, and optimistic, that I would one day be fluent. This confidence was evident in all the volunteers at the Excellence Centre, as it was such a productive and enjoyable learning environment to begin with a new language. I was surrounded by fluent speakers and could ask at any time for help or explanations, something which thoroughly helped my learning and comprehension of Arabic.

I have made some amazing memories in Hebron and look forward to going back one day. Its bustling busy, busy and such a friendly city. I was instantly greeted with such politeness and kindness everywhere I want. Everybody was so welcoming and the food I had was delicious- or ‘zaki’! I would recommend for everyone to try Maqluba, as a trip to Palestine is not complete without it! I lived in an apartment with other volunteers and we would regularly talk an relax with our neighbours, the Hijazi’s, who are some of the most kind and welcoming people you will ever meet. They don’t just make you feel like a volunteer but as a friend. Inviting us for dinner, ensuing we were always content and showing us the meaning Palestinian hospitality. To them I say a warm hello from Scotland and a massive thank you!

Hebron is an extremely safe city and I feel safer here than in Scotland. Before I came I was concerned about the security situation, but never experienced anything dangerous, only an extremely welcoming people is a hard situation. A situation I would encourage anyone to witness for themselves the full extent of the occupation.

Living, teaching and learning in Palestinian was a truly amazing and remarkable experience, and I hope to be back leaning and speaking Arabic soon. I could not recommend this program enough, the centre goes out there way to make sure you are comfortable and have the best possible time there.

Shukran for a wonderful time!

My name is Alex and I’m from Melbourne, Australia. After completing my Communications Degree from RMIT University, I came to Palestine to do the Teaching English and Study Arabic course at the Excellence Center.

I expected to do a heap of teaching, while squeezing in some Arabic here and there, but I have completed my time here learning significantly more Arabic than I had hoped. The Centre is a great place to work and learn, the teachers and volunteers here are like a family. My teacher, Marwa has been so amazing and helpful, she has made learning Arabic so enjoyable and has motivated me to study hard (something I am notoriously bad at). In my spare time here, I study, chat to teachers and volunteers, and most importantly; undertake informal cooking lessons with Khitam, who has taught me how to cook delicious Palestinian dishes while also improving my Arabic food vocabulary.

Everyone at the Center is warm, friendly, helpful and caring. The teachers are so much fun, the other volunteers are awesome and have become great friends of mine, and the students are motivated and eager to learn. Coming here everyday is fun, walking in for breakfast and chatting to everyone is a family affair, we laugh a lot, tell stories and plan trips around Palestine and Hebron. Manager Abou Mohannad is so helpful and funny, always chatty and friendly with us, he makes settling in and seeing the city so easy for us.

While here I have explored Hebron and the rest of Palestine, taking trips to Jerusalem, Ramallah, Jericho, Bethlehem, Dheisheh, Doura and Khan al-Ahmar. Being such a small country, it is very easy and cheap to travel around on days off, accomodation is usually cheap as well.

The apartment for the volunteers is in the bustling area of Bab al-Zawiye, where our neighbour Sheikh Abed and the whole Hijazi family make us feel so welcome. I thought that being in the apartment meant we would miss out on speaking Arabic all the time, but as we spend so much time with our neighbours, we speak Arabic all the time and they teach us new phrases and vocab constantly.

The other volunteers and I would often joke at the fact that so many people back home told us to ‘be careful’ here, ‘you know it’s such a dangerous place’ etc. etc. etc. But I honestly don’t think I have ever felt safer anywhere, not once have I ever felt threatened by anyone, or felt worried about where I was. You can walk the streets at any time and feel safe, it’s easy to forget about the occupation here, as the people are all so friendly and welcoming, I usually spend most of the day smiling.

My favourite thing about Palestine is definitely the people, I have made great friends from Hebron and Dheisheh, who I hope to know for the rest of my life. Even strangers make your day better, as they want to help you and make sure you have the best time possible.

I also inadvertently became a celebrity here via appearing in a video with singer Ayman al-Sabawi. In my last month here, I have been constantly recognised on the streets, taking photos with people and and telling them about the gig. Usually people just yell out ‘Australia!!’ and smile, it has been one of the oddest and funniest experiences of my life.

All in all, I cannot recommend this program enough. I didn’t expect to feel so comfortable here, I have settled in and now I have to leave!!! I am desperate to come back here and continue my study, and I hope to keep in touch with everyone I have met here. Hebron has become my second home, and I hope to continue coming back here in my life. I have fallen in love with Palestine and it has made me want to learn as much Arabic as possible.

Thank you to everyone at The Excellence Center, I’ve had the time of my life here.

My name is Sam Halton, I am originally from San Francisco Bay Area, and I am both an Irish and an American citizen. I have a BA in Political Science from the University of California and a Master’s degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London University in Near and Middle East Studies. I volunteered with Syrian refugees in Turkey and I felt that a future career in the region would require me to learn Arabic. Because of this I wanted to find an Arabic program in the Levant (Bilad el Sham). Additionally, I have always been interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and I have always dreamed of volunteering in the Occupied Palestinian territories to witness the politics of the Occupation first hand.
During my stay in Hebron I studied Arabic and volunteered as an English Teacher. The Excellence Centre made teaching very easy. Teachers are gradually weened into teaching by initially working side by side with a Palestinian teacher. I did this for a short period before eventually teaching my own classes at the centre. Initially I was worried that I would not receive enough Arabic because of my volunteer schedule but this was not the case. I received about an hour a day. My Arabic teacher Marwa Shantir, was incredibly helpful and was very good at fitting my Arabic courses in with my volunteer schedule. Though male students are not generally kept with a host family the accommodation for male volunteers is in the centre of a lively Palestinian community. Our neighbour and friend Sheikh Abed Hijazi lives directly above us and socializes with us on regular basis. The Hijazi family treats us like one of their own, and the frequent visits and socializing not only made me feel at home here in Hebron, it has also helped me with my Arabic. Our close friendship with the Hijazi family allows us to learn new words and use our Arabic on a daily basis.
Many people from the United States and the United Kingdom are concerned about whether or not living in Palestine is safe. I can personally say that I feel much safer walking around Hebron at night then I do in many parts of the San Francisco Bay area or parts of London. The Occupation is a reality, but living in H1 it is very easy to forget about the political issues that plague the Occupied West Bank. The hospitality and kindness of the Palestinian people is beyond words. Given the current leadership of the Trump administration and Americas lopsided approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict I am often ashamed of my American nationality. The Palestinian people are directly affected by American policy, most often negatively. Because of this one would assume that Palestinians would rightfully hold some negative feelings towards Americans. Despite Americas policy toward the Palestinians I have found that Palestinians are more capable of separating the actions of the U.S. government from its citizens then many people in the United States are when judging other nations. It does not matter if I tell people that I am Irish or American. I am always politely welcomed and treated with respect, kindness, and hospitality.
The excellence centre is a fantastic way for any individual studying Middle Eastern politics, Human Rights, or Arabic to experience the region firs hand. The staff are extremely helpful and have become very close friends. The excellence centre can be as hands on or hands off as volunteers wish. They have been extremely helpful in connecting me to local human rights groups and Universities and have even helped me in my job search in Palestine. They know people are here to learn and make connections and they are happy to help volunteers in this endeavour. My time at the excellence centre has been amazing I feel that two months was not enough. I fully intend to return as soon as possible and I have recommended the excellence centre to all my friends studying Arabic in Europe and America.

I spent 3 months volunteering in Palestine with the Excellence Center this past winter/spring. I participated in the Volunteer to Write about Palestine program and the Volunteer to Teach English program.

Over the course of the 3 months I spent in Hebron, I met amazing people both within the Excellence Center and outside. When entering the Center as a volunteer, intern, or Arabic students, you are truly entering into a family. The dynamic of the Center is nothing short of communal. The staff members are lively, exciting, and fun people to be around. The warm work environment makes for enjoyable days spent volunteering at the Center as well. Also, the constant coming and going of internationals means that I had the opportunity to meet many people from all around the world. Many of whom I have stayed in touch with! I truly loved meeting everyone who walked through the door - both internationals, local Palestinian students and, of course, the staff members.

Marwa was my personal Arabic teacher and I shared so many fond memories with her during my time learning Arabic and being at the Excellence Center. She quickly became a great friend to me. I came to Palestine knowing the basics of fusha, but had no knowledge of the Palestinian dialect. My Arabic language skills improved slowly but surely during my time at the Excellence Center. My motivation to come to Palestine was fueled by a desire to learn Arabic and I found that there was no faster way to do so than through immersion.

In addition to being immersed in the Arabic language, I enjoyed being immersed in Palestinian culture. I attended many joyful events, such as weddings and birthday celebrations, during my time in Hebron. I loved getting the change to experience everyday life in Palestine. As much as I thought I would travel to various cities during my 3 months in Palestine, I hardly left Hebron because I had developed such great friendships within the city. Apart from two trips to Bethlehem and a trip to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, I spent most of my days in Hebron and most of my weekends with my host family. This was also my second trip to Palestine, so that is why I went on fewer trips to other cities and spent more time settled in Hebron. I grew very attached to the host family I was placed in and am thankful for the way they welcomed me in with open arms. I truly felt a part of the family and when I come back to Palestine, which I hope happens sooner rather than later, I would not want to live with anyone else. From my host family to the staff members at the Excellence Center, I felt as though I built lifelong friendships in my short 3 months there. The people are certainly my favorite thing about Palestine (the food, certainly being the runner-up).

This is my second time to Palestine and during both of my trips the thought of danger had never crossed my mind. I never felt scared or threatened in Palestine, even when walking alone around the city. If the fear of danger and violence is a worry for any prospective volunteers I hope you listen to the experiences of past volunteers when we say that Palestine is a very safe place to visit.

Leaving Palestine meant many hard goodbyes for me, but I pray that those goodbyes were only see you later's. I cannot wait to return and visit my host family, my lovely Arabic teacher, and the friends I made while at the Excellence Center. I felt supported during the entirety of my trip and cannot say enough great things about the Center!

My one piece of advice: If you are on the fence about volunteering with the Excellence Center, do it! I treasure the time I spent in the West Bank and am expecting to be back soon.