“My name is Lizi. I am from England and am currently studying a Master Degree in Sustainable Development and Disaster Management in Newcastle. I have been at The Excellence Centre for 1 month and have completed the internship in Palestineย program,

During my time at the center, I have been living with a host family in a village called Bait Ommar. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the family and will be keeping in contact with them after I leave Palestine. Staying with a host family really allowed me to get a deeper insight into the Palestinian culture, as well as helping me gain some life long friends. The family showed me things I would never have seen without them, such as local weddings, less travelled locations and family traditions. They were warm, welcoming, generous, hospitable and lovely people. The village itself was beautiful too and have a pleasant contrast to the busier city life of Hebron.

My first week at the center consisted of 5 one to one Arabic classes with my teacher Abraham, which each lasted around 3 hours. These classes were enjoyable and informative. I found Abraham was a good teacher and very easy to get along with. He also gave me the opportunity to steer the lessons into whichever areas were of main interest to me which was great. For example, I wanted to focus on conversational/spoken Arabic more so than writing and reading, so most of the lessons were arranged and personalised around this.

The second week during the internship was my favourite week. During this week, Abrahim (a different Abrahim!) guided and arranged several tours around hebron. We visited Hebron Old City, Rumeida and Shuhada Street, Al-ibrahimi Mosque, Alfawar refugee camp and The Chamber of Commerce. As I was the only one on the internship, the tours were just for him and myself, however we invited the other volunteers and each trip we had a relatively large group accompanying us. Abrahim was a great guide during the trips. He made them very educational and answered any questions we had for him as well as telling us some of his own personal experiences and opinions. It was both sad and shocking to hear the things he has seen, and to hear a monologue from someone who has lived through the stages of this conflict has been invaluable.

I did visit several places independently from the centre also. For example, my host family took me to Bethlehem, Jericho, The Dead Sea, Ramallah and Neblus. Also, alone, I visited Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. I had always thought of England as a small country and so it was amazing for me to see just how small Palestine is. The short distances made it easy to travel and I am grateful to the centre and my host family, as in a short time I have been able to see a majority of the beautiful major cities, each with its own unique qualities (for example, nablus is the leader for Knaffa!)

The third week of my internship began with a presentation given by Abraham in teaching techniques with the purpose of preparing me for my final week of teaching. This was very useful and educational. The following day, I was asked to make a presentation of my own stating some ideas I had for future lesson plans. This was challenging as I am not a natural public speaker however the staff were very supportive and warmly welcomed my ideas.

For my final week, I assisted Abraham in teaching his class. The class were at beginner level, so Abrahim would explain the content to them, and I would then write and speak the answers in English. The class were very eager to learn and very grateful and receptive to both their native and international teachers. I found that their attitudes to learning were much more positive than the average UK student and it was a pleasure to work with them in my final week. One of the highlights with this class was the food day! Each student would bring in a delicious dish, give a presentation in English of how they made it, and then everybody would be welcomed to join and share the food together. It was a lovely atmosphere.

Finally, I will end on a point I feel is very important. Did I feel safe in Palestine? I will admit that before leaving, I was nervous to enter the Palestinian territories. I had never met any Palestinians, and most of my knowledge of the place at present was coming from the media. This is the same for most people in Europe, and so I also had friends and family warning me to be careful and even begging me not to go! I can now say in all honestly that I have never felt safer in a country as I have in Palestine. Palestinians are good people. They take pride in their culture, community and generosity. They are always looking to help internationals or if you do not need help, they will want to invite you in for tea and food regardless! I love this country and its people, and I think it’s so important that people know the real Palestine, and not the one portrayed in the eyes of the western media.

On leaving Palestine, I wish to go home and complete my studies to hopefully go on to work as an NGO specializing in refugee crisises. I would recommend the excellence center to anyone. I have learnt so much here, and met so many amazing people. I will always keep the Palestinians in my heart after I have left, and will make sure to spread the word of their good nature in my home country. All I can hope is that I will be able to return to this amazing country again some day.”