Volunteer with Refugees in Germany (1-12 Weeks)

I was sad to leave after two weeks. I throughly enjoyed meeting new people from different countries and backgrounds with many reasons for choosing to study or volunteer in Germany. The most positive thing was how easy it was to fit in whatever age or background you were from. I'm a 57 year old British woman. Friendly and welcoming. There wasn't as much teaching as I expected but it was flexible and not daunting though I've had a little experience before. That doesn't matter though as other participants will support you and share ideas. I stayed with a host German family who added another dimension to my visit. In the long weekend there is also the opportunity to visit some beautiful cities. Highly recommended if you are flexible and like finding out about other people's lives and experiences

My time at the Excellence Center was an eye-opening experience that taught me a lot about refugees and their lives, as well as the German language. My host family was very welcoming and gracious, and I greatly enjoyed my time with them. At the Excellence Center, we started the morning with breakfast, where I got to know the other volunteers. After that, I had German lessons, which taught me some new vocabulary. I also began to teach lessons in German to two refugees from Ukraine. I learned about where they were from, and even improved my German in the process. I saw a lot of the city while I was here, including churches, historic buildings, the university, and a huge music festival. My host family and I became close, and I hope we will stay in contact in the future. Additionally, my German has definitely improved. It feels much more natural to speak than it did two weeks ago when I arrived. Volunteering was also a great experience that showed me the challenges refugees face, but also showed me the resilience they have. The two weeks passed by quickly, and I wish I could stay for longer. Halle is a beautiful city, and I learned a lot from my time here at the Excellence Center. I hope to return to Halle as soon as I can!

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I am so glad and thankful for having had the opportunity of this wonderful experience at the Europe Excellence Center. Although I visited the Center in Halle for a short term, not only did I have very much fun and empathy with my language students in English and in German, the whole atmosphere at the academy was warm and welcoming, I felt the kindness and open-minded mentality of everyone there from the beginning on. The staff was always absolutely helpful and nice, their disposition of sharing time and personal experiences with the volunteers was marvelous! For the reason of my international background (I was born in Colombia and my family of origin is german), this possibility of communicating and interacting with people from different cultures and mentalities was a very rewarding experience, not only because of the opportunity of learning from others, but also - for me the most important fact of all - it enriches you personally at a very deep. spiritual level, in which giving and receiving flows in a very spontaneous, natural way. I fully recommend the programs offered at the Europe Excellence Center, as well as its staff and teachers, not only for younger people, but also for those of us who are more aged in time but always young by heart, because of all the fun and learning you will experience at the Centerl! I therefore express my deepest gratitude to each and everyone there whom I had the opportunity of knowing and interacting with!!

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I am Prasad from Sri Lanka, I am 53 Y and I have a BSc Physical Science degree in well reputed university in our country, I worked at Sri Lanka Navy nearly 10Y as an officer, In 2009 I joined the university as a disciplinary head and enjoyed my second life in same university. In university I was started YCFA association ,that is Youth Club For the Aidless. We helped poor schools, and elderly homes in Sri Lanka. I am normally helping people since my school carrier, I am visiting elderly homes and child homes frequently, I used to visit and worked with them without any charges, recently I was completed my caregiver level 4, It is help me to do my volunteer job easily and perfectly. I did several courses to help people ,cricket coaching and umpiring, personal training, gym instructor, sports therapy, spa therapist, tennis coaching, and stretching exercises . I have only daughter she is now 7 years old and my wife also giving me a good support. We are helping not only human but also animals ,specially stray dogs. I would like to study German language course and helping people volouteerly and study further in German. I can manage my air ticket to come your country ,and course fee too. I am waiting for your positive answer as soon as possible. thank you prasad

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I taught English for 8 weeks, and it was truly a great experience. Rafat, Ali, and Radwan were very easy to work with and I had a lot of time in the classroom. I made plenty of friends, both other interns and (thanks to Ali) other Germans and immigrants living in Germany. My living arrangements were great as well -- I was in a nice student apartment with two German university students. Can't recommend enough.

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My only complaint about my time at the Excellence Center is that I only spent one week! Rafat creates a warm environment that makes everyone feel welcome. I was lucky enough to have a terrific Arabic teacher, Moaz, who brought such kind engaging energy to all his lessons. Most of all my time with my host family was unforgettable. I feel so grateful for the evenings spent laughing with my host family and learning more about their lives. I would recommend this program to young and old alike!

I am a doctor in England. I have been practicing for 20 years. I volunteered to teach English to the immigrant and refugee population at The Excellence Center in Halle. This also gave me an opportunity to further develop my Levantine Arabic (as my intention is to work in refugee camps in the future). It was a wonderful experience to meet and work with a bunch of kind and friendly people. The are all extremely welcoming and have created a family atmosphere at The Center, and my three weeks felt too short a time to spend at this beautiful place. I learned a lot of spoken Arabic in formal lessons, but was also able to constantly practice my Arabic with anyone and everyone I met! (Some volunteers opted for German lessons). It was amazing to speak to all the people there (refugees and volunteers) and hear about their experiences. Speaking and interacting with refugees, and hearing each individual's harrowing journey is an invaluable experience I would recommend to everyone. It was a mind-opening three weeks at the Center. I made some life long friends, and I loved everyone so much that I plan to go back there.

I volunteered with the Excellence Center for a week. I was doing an internship in Berlin and I wanted to do something meaningful before I went back to America, so I googled refugee centers and I found the Excellence Center. When I got accepted in the program, Rafat was very helpful finding me a host family and my host family were some Syrian refugees. They did not speak much English and I did not speak much German but they did their best at making me feel welcomed. The first day, they made dinner for me and would always feed me. In addition, being at the center, all of the staff made me feel welcomed and at home. Being away from home, Rafat made the experience feel like I was at home with the breakfast served every morning and the going away dinner. This is my first time teaching of any sort and I was a little nervous and I didn't know what to expect but the other volunteers helped me get the ropes of things. Since I stayed for a week I had 1 student who was a refugee from Yemen and he was very eager to learn. After leaving the Excellence Center, I found a passion to teach people and impact others in that way.

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I had a really great time at Excellence Centre Europe and it was an amazing learning experience. Everyone was very kind to welcome me, and I really appreciated the daily communal breakfast. It was a brilliant way to get to know people at the centre at a deeper level, especially since our activities were largely individual. I had some truly wonderful conversations over these meals, and the food itself was also fantastic. I was initially apprehensive about coming all the way to Germany from Singapore for this volunteering stint, but I am very glad I did so. I definitely do not regret coming here! Not only are the people great, the Excellence Centre has also set up a good system so that the volunteers, as well as the students, benefit from the experience. I really appreciate the chance to enter into the lives of the students here in Halle and to get to know them on a personal level. Most of my classes were centred around conversation, so I had many opportunities to learn about their lives and to briefly experience the world from their point of view. I definitely learnt a lot from my time at the Excellence Centre.

Ever since my last visit to then West Germany back in 1987, I always wanted to have a life in Europe, particularly in Germany. My mentor, however, advised me to get my Ph. D. in America before I make a move to Germany. I took his advice and received Ph. D. in mathematics, specializing in Game Theory, under the supervision of Professor Lloyd S. Shapley, 2012 Nobel laureate in Economics. Upon receiving my degree back in 2004 I had an opportunity to work in Europe but I had to turn down all the offers due to my personal problems. My dissertation is to build a purely mathematical solution to a bargaining problem. During the period I had worked on my dissertation, both Afghanistan and Iraq war broke out. I was furious at US foreign policy and was in turn motivated to develop this purely mathematical model into a model which can be used in the real world, among other things, to prevent unnecessary wars. My effort was not successful though, largely because of my mental health. For the past 10 years or so I was basically a retired mathematician and had to watch helplessly as the Syrian war refugee crisis unfolded. As I learned how Syrian refugees rebuild their lives in Germany through IT media, I thought it would be wonderful to be able to teach mathematics to refugee students and rebuild my own European dream in Germany. My original plan was to donate some money to a refugee camp and request a German language education in return for my offer of mathematics education. In the process of contacting governmental organizations both in Netherlands and Germany, I found the “Excellence Center in Europe”. I joined the Excellence Center family on the 18 December 2019. It is an oasis in a desert. Excellence Center gave me an opportunity to teach mathematics to students who went through the horror of the war. I have also developed my English language teaching skills. But above all, Rafat Santir, the person who is in charge of the program, is the gem of all gems. He is a God father-like figure to the refugee students. He takes care of refugee students as if they were his children. He also helps me in a lot of ways whenever I run into a problem, starting out a new life in a country where I do not speak the language. I also learn German here and I hope to become either a professor or a school teacher in Germany one day. Unfortunately, I arrived in Germany with a tourist visa and therefore have to leave within 90 days of my arrival. But I am coming back!

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I just had an amazing two-week experience volunteering as an English teacher at the Excellence Center in Halle (Saale, Germany). I don't have enough words to actually describe it. Everybody was so friendly and warm! My host family was very loving and caring. And, since I also came to study Arabic, I could practice everything I learned with them: full immersion! Rafat and Mutaz are wonderful hosts, they were always very nice with all of us (both volunteers and students). We laughed a lot and shared awesome meals together :) I will surely come back ... in fact, Rafat will help me keep learning Arabic online, until I'll manage to return for an intensive Arabic course. Shukran (thank you) guys!!!

I have just finished my time at the Excellence Centre after two weeks of being in the city. I have had the most wonderful time here and thoroughly recommend it to anyone considering coming. I was nervous as a first time solo female traveller, but everyone here made me feel so at home. My host was wonderful, as were the other staff at the centre and volunteers. Teaching refugees was incredibly rewarding as not only did they learn some English, but I was introduced to different cultures which opened my eyes to new ways of viewing the world.

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Hello, my name is Adriano, I am from Portugal, I volunteered at the Excellence Center in Europe in Halle for a week. I taught English to some refugees from Syria. I really had a good time there. Mohammed, my Arabic teacher at the center was great, he introduced me to the Arabic language in an interesting way, I was able to speak some Arabic words with the people I met at the Center. Rafat, the Excellence Center coordinator did a great job in welcoming and letting me feel home in Halle. Thank you guys so much for everything and I wish to come back to Halle in the future.