Sam, from Melbourne, Australia to Volunteer in Palestine: Back in Melbourne (Australia), he was undertaking Business studies. Like a lot of his peers, traveling and discovering the world outside Australia was top of his list of priorities so although not through with his studies, he decided to go on an adventure that led him to Hebron.

“Australia is so big and vast, I haven´t yet seen it all but I had the urge to meet other people from other cultures. I went to Europe and the UK where I have family. Then I decided to visit Turkey and Morocco, I realised that the Middle-Eastern culture really fascinated me”. He adds “It is fairly unusual for us “ausies” as we are called, to back-pack the Middle-East but I liked the idea of getting out of my comfort zone.  So, I decided to go travelling by myself.

First stop Egypt. “I found it to be a very intense country, very dirty and chaotic. Cairo in particular. There, people shout all the time, it seems that it is their way of life. After a while it gets tiring.”

“Then I went to Iran and it was a gem. I can´t wait to return. The people were so incredibly friendly and open to foreigners. I really didn´t expect it. I was even hosted for 4 days by a family I casually met in a restaurant. We have exchanged contact details and we are staying good friends.”

So why Palestine and why Hebron? “I must say that the whole Israel-Palestine conflict has interested me for years. I was curious about the region, the occupation situation, its origin. There is no substitute to meeting the people and seeing for yourself how their daily life is affected by a 70 years old conflict.” Sam is volunteering as an English Teacher at the EC and also taking Arabic lessons. He says: “I recommend that anyone who wants to learn about Palestine comes to Hebron, the people are seriously genuinely nice and interested in visitors.

They will ask you many questions because they don´t get to see many foreigners. You see they are in a bottle-neck… Also, anyone worried about communication need not threat. English is widely spoken. Don´t listen to the Media, don´t be scared. Quite frankly, I felt safer in Hebron than in London.”

Sam suggests that before visitors come to Palestine, they do a little research about the region and its situation. It is quite complicated and reading about it can be overwhelming but well worth the effort!

Any negative sides? “I didn´t expect Hebron to be quite so dirty and full of litter to be honest! There is a great need for recycling that´s for sure because so much plastic is being used and thrown into the garbage”.  Having said that, compared to many other Middle-Eastern countries, it is not quite so bad☺ . I am definitely coming back that goes without saying.