Living with a host family in Palestine: One of the most attractive offers the Excellence Center has is it’s placement of (female) volunteers with host families. There is no better way to get to really know and immerse yourself in Palestinian culture than through the day to day experience of family life. This is especially true for women, as many of the main activities and opportunities to truly express themselves happen in the home.
In this respect we can go as far as to say that those of us who are women are lucky when we come to the Excellence Center. Our stay will most likely be more comfortable and protected, as families take care of us, accompany and show us around in many ways. Male volunteers, on the other hand, have a bit more liberty to meet with people outside and be social but get very little of the intimate family experience.
The Excellence Center collaborates with many families in and around Hebron, some of them have hosted volunteers for many years, others are new to it, but all of them feel extremely honored to have us in their homes. As you arrive to the Excellence Center, depending on the time of the day you will be escorted by the staff to your family. You will most likely have dinner together and get information about the living arrangement.
Every home is different, some families have the possibility to offer you a private room, others offer a shared room where you will most likely be together with one of the daughters or women of the family. Some families have western style bathrooms, with showers and toilets with running water, but others have more rudimentary facilities, limiting the amount of water the family has at certain times of the days, using buckets to shower or flush the toilets. All families offer WiFi as The Excellence Center believes this is crucial for volunteers to communicate with their families back home. Most families offer also dinner, especially if they themselves are having dinner together as a family in the evenings, they will always ask you to join.
Family life in Palestine is quite lively, most social events are family events here, and if you are invited to gatherings it is most likely the celebration of someones birthday, a wedding or some other celebration in the family. The women gather with the children, often inside, while the men are often in other rooms or outside. As women we usually follow the women and children and get to see celebrations few men are allowed to experience. We (as internationals) might also sometimes get to join some of the men gatherings and find that they are just as lively and full of laughter and music as the women’s. Food and, especially sweets are always present, so accept politely and eat as much as you dare.
Living with a host family in Palestine is a luxury we women volunteers get. Many of us spend a lot of time with them, learning and suddenly becoming a part of the family. The differences are there, often intriguing and confusing, but there is not a dull moment when we don’t have a chance to learn from each other. Take advantage to reciprocate all that is possible while spending time in this very intimate and interesting environment of Palestine. You are lucky to have it!
