Palestine Inspires Our Volunteers in Palestine: Here at the Excellence Center in Palestine, we often hear from our volunteers in Palestine that they find themselves feeling inspired by their time here in Hebron.

The Palestinian people

There are many different aspects of their experience in Palestine and with the Palestinian people which they note as instigators to this positive feeling. We have spoken with some of our international volunteers in Palestine on this subject and they have shared their views.

The language and culture

Alexa who is twenty-nine and from the United States is participating in our Volunteer to Write about Palestine program tells us that she has found her time here really invigorating. She explains “I spent time in the Middle East years ago when I was in college and my Bachelor’s Degree is in Middle East Studies, I have always wanted to come back so even just being here feels amazing.”

Alexa continues on, “now that I am here and immersing myself in the language and culture I feel inspired to keep going in this trajectory and I am currently looking for work in neighboring, Arabic speaking countries for when I complete my stay with the Excellence Center.”

Palestinian students

Nina, also from the United States, is participating in our Teach English and Learn Arabic in Palestine program. Nina points to her experience with her students is what she has found to be the most motivating, “my students are so great and they are all so hungry for knowledge. I have never experienced students who really want to be in class and learning as they do. It’s actually quite inspiring and really makes you think.”

Often our volunteers note the difference between students here in Palestine and those in their own country. Another volunteer from Britain participates in our Teach English and Learn Arabic program and he adds, “I think of students at home, I think back to when I was a student of the same age and everything regarding education is just so taken for granted.”

He says, “but here, for these kids, learning English is a tool with which they can use to achieve their goals and a good life, they really want to be here and participate in class. I leave my lessons with them feeling revitalized.”

Family dynamics in Palestine

When we ask our international volunteers in Palestine what they find most different or what difference in the culture they most like regarding Palestine and their own culture a subject we always end up discussing is family.

Family dynamics in Palestine are vastly different from those in Western cultures. Palestinians have very large families with many children and everyone lives very close to one another. Families visit each other throughout the week and then gather everyone together on Friday.

The concept of “alone time” does not exist in Palestine 

The concept of “alone time” does not exist in our culture, we are always amongst one another. Families are extremely close and always assist one another. One Alexa tells us, “the other day my host mother was looking a little down, I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was sad because it had been five days since her eldest daughter had visited and three days since she had seen her son who lives right below us.”

Alexa continues, “it felt so crazy to me to hear this because my family is scattered hours and hours drive from one another along the east coast and some I only see once a year, but upon further thought I realized that for my host mother, this lapse of time spent together was felt very deeply and was out of the ordinary.”

The structure of the family

Anna, from Australia, tells us, “the structure of family here has really struck me and made me think. I love how close they all how, how much they care for and help one another, they are never alone.”

Anna continues on, “witnessing this has really moved me to think deeper about my interactions with my own family, about the value of my connections with them and about what kind of dynamic I want to strive to create with them.”

Final remarks

Palestine inspires our volunteers in Palestine for different reasons and hearing about this from them is one of our favorite things about this job.

We see above that no matter who you are or where you come from you are bound to be invigorated by your time spent with us in Palestine. We look forward to meeting you and we can’t wait to hear what you find most inspiring about Palestine!