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Volunteer With Palestinian Refugees In 2025
The Volunteer with Palestinian Refugees Program in 2025 offers an exceptional opportunity for a diverse range of individuals—from students to retirees—who are passionate about human rights and eager to work directly with Palestinian refugees in the West Bank. Volunteers will engage with Palestinian children, youth, and women in refugee camps around Hebron, helping to enhance their skill sets and p...
The Volunteer with Palestinian Refugees Program in 2025 offers an exceptional opportunity for a diverse range of individuals—from students to retirees—who are passionate about human rights and eager to work directly with Palestinian refugees in the West Bank. Volunteers will engage with Palestinian children, youth, and women in refugee camps around Hebron, helping to enhance their skill sets and provide educational support. Schools in these Palestinian refugee camps often face significant resource shortages, hindering their ability to meet students' educational needs. Volunteers will work directly in schools to help bridge this gap, while also collaborating with human rights organizations, community centers, and international NGOs to advocate for the rights of refugees. This Palestinian ...
Program Highlights
Volunteer with Palestinian children in refugee camps in Hebron, West bank, Palestine.
Take part in center-led excursions to cultural sites as well as receive 3 hours of spoken Palestinian Arabic with one of our teachers.
Support an important cause and help ensure that displaced people in Palestine receive the rights and resources guaranteed to them under international and UN laws.
Work in the front lines of the battle for human rights in Palestine.
Dive into crucial matters related to Middle Eastern politics, diplomacy, education, and international rights and law.
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Quick Details
- Hebron, Palestine
- 1-2 Weeks
- 2-4 Weeks
- 5-8 Weeks
- 9-12 Weeks
- Summer
- Childcare & Children
- Community Development
- Culture
- English Teaching
- Human Rights
- See more
- All Nationalities
Awards








Program Reviews
Hear what past participants have to say about the programs
Overall Rating
Total Reviews
2 weeks volunteering with Palestinian refugees
by: Mami Kamoshita - JapanProgram: Volunteer With Palestinian Refugees In 2025Introduction My name is Mami, I am from Japan, currently I undertake a postgraduate study in migration and development. I participated in “Volunteering for Palestinian Refugees” program between 8th January to 21st January 2023. Safety in Hebron Although the situations for Palestinians are complicated, I felt very safe in the city as a foreigner. There was not one moment when I felt in danger. In my opinion, this is the most welcoming place I have ever been as a foreigner, with people saying hi, welcome to you everyday on the street with smiles, and I never experienced any racism nor those pushing to make you buy something / trying to rip you off. 3G network works well in most places, although you need to get a SIM card from here (the one from Tel-Aviv didn’t work in Hebron). Homestay During my 2 weeks, I was at a homestay with a family in Hebron, with another Dutch girl also volunteering for the excellence centre. My host family was absolutely amazing, one of the warmest people in the world with a lovely sense of humour. They have experience hosting over 11 years, to more than 40 people from all around the world. In their apartment, myself and another Dutch girl shared a bedroom separate from the family’s house and provided us with a private shower and toilet for us to share. We were often invited to eat with them and have a chat in the evening around their fireplace, and the living room was always filled with laughter. Spending time with this lovely family, I started to think a lot about what it means to be happy, what we should seek in our life. It was so nice to see many people visiting every day, and relatives having tight knit communities. They also mentioned how children are raised by the whole family and relatives, which is very different from what mothers experience in Japan or in the West. I deeply appreciate all the kindness they have given me through the homestay and thank also the excellence centre to introduce this family to me. Just one tip for travelling – Don’t come on Friday night / Saturday morning. There is no public transportation and private taxis could be very expensive. All other days, you can travel by affordable trains from airport to Jerusalem and then shared taxi from Jerusalem Damascus gate to Hebron.
Welcome to the family
by: Sheila Streithoff - GermanyProgram: Volunteer With Palestinian Refugees In 2025My name is Sheila, 45 years, from Germany, more precisely from a little village called Glems, population 1200, located in the southwest of Germany. I would describe myself as blessed, very curious, young at heart, fearless and of course somehow charmingly crazy in my own way. Then: I quit running a hostel and being self-employed in January 2021. During Covid I had a lot of time to think about myself, we all experienced that, even though I wasn´t inactive, I worked for friends´ businesses, did any kinds of office works, waitressing, cleaned up… and I figured out what I really love: People, making people at least smile, helping, travelling and broadening my horizon. At that time Afghanistan was the main subject in the news and I realized that I reacted emotionally strong to the stories of people who had to leave their country under fear of death…Refugees! THAT´S IT! There are refugee-projects all over the world, most refugees need existential help and most refugees are from Arabic speaking countries – great, I always wanted to learn a totally different language and I always wanted to go on a language trip… Now: I´m sitting in the sunny front of the apartment that´s owned by the best Palestinian host family Marwa & Osama moved me to, sharing the apartment with an American Mormon beauty, writing about myself, Palestine and the Excellence Center after I spent 3 months from the 27th March until the 26th June 2022 as a totally changed person. On the one hand I could write a book on every single day I had here and on the other hand the situations, experiences, and stories that happened here just make me speechless. But one thing is for sure: I am a part of a lot of families now! Excellence Center: Marwa & Osama are the heart, Rafat is managing from Germany, with the lovely Khitam and the highly passionate teachers and of course some of their excellent family members at the Excellence Center. I started with the Intensive Arabic Course, 20 hours per week of one-to-one lessons. The time I started there were not a lot of students, so I was lucky to have the one-to-one lessons as a total beginner starting Arabic from zero. Nada, my teacher, is 23 years old, professional, structured and very patient. Her lessons were always prepared, she was very aware of my needs and my way of learning, flexible to adjust at any point of progress, so that I felt comfortable and successful. I love her! After one month I changed into the Refugees Program. That basically means teaching English (mostly to children), interviewing refugees, local people and different organizations about structures, economy, education, all-day-living, the issues, struggles and human rights violations caused by the occupation. It then turned out that the Refugees Program became a mixture between the Refugees Program and the Human Rights Program that even surpassed my expectations. I appreciated the flexibility of Osama. He had to deal with my individual expectations like - I had never taught before at all, - I didn’t want to teach children, - I was interested in economic structures, education system, possibilities and solutions He made it possible that I experienced all of it in a for me perfect way. I taught adult refugees in the refugee camp, I had an English Club with teenage girls and I interviewed lawyers, teachers, activists against human right violation and children’s right violation, managers of different kinds of community centers etc. I visited schools, kindergardens, the Hebron chamber of commerce, a Bedouin village and all the pride the Palestinian people have in trying to change the situation and seek freedom. It was always possible to tell Osama about your interests or if you wanted to dive deeper into a subject, he is the one who helps you to meet with the right people. Marwa organizes all the teachers, students, volunteers, internal workshops and meetings about teaching and studying in general, or presentations about the experiences of leaving students and volunteers. And Marwa is responsible for the host families and apartments. Besides that she teaches Arabic and she is a mother of the happiest one-year-old girl in the world. She leads the most unpredictable parts and I don’t know how she does it – huge respect! She has to deal with a lot of sudden changes every day, literally everyone has different needs at different times, no structure, no red line, nothing to rely on… and guess: She´s able to move mountains to make you happy. THANK YOU min albii! All in one, the Excellence Center has a vibe that is very welcoming, warm and familiar. As I confirmed to Rafat 4 months ago, he sent a message with “Welcome to the family”. Me as a German I just thought “yes standard – phrase, nice and polite”. Now I know better… I AM part of the family and it feels great! Palestine: Yes, it is there and it is real and it is existent! Palestine is beautiful, authentic, lively, heartfelt, hospitable, resistant, religious, proud, safe, funny, mind- and life-changing and EXISTENT! I recommend Hebron, I highly recommend the Excellence Center and I recommend the experiences you’ll just get here in Palestine!



A door opener into Palestinian everyday life - and people's hearts
by: Bahira Zeller - SwitzerlandProgram: Volunteer With Palestinian Refugees In 2025Activities My main activity was teaching English to Palestinians of ages between 4 and 33. I did this in the Fawwar refugee camp as well as at the Excellence Center in Hebron. In both places this was very rewarding, as my students were basically already happy that I was just there, and even more when we had interesting conversations that encouraged them to further practice their English skills. It became apparent that in many cases, the interaction with me was the first opportunity to practice especially their spoken skills outside of a classroom. Often this motivated them to continue learning and improving their abilities to have a conversation in English. Arabic Lessons The Arabic lessons with Marwa were not only helpful and practical, but moreover set in a motivating learning atmosphere=) As I was in a host family that spoke mainly Arabic, at the beginning of my stay of course I barely could understand anything if my host mom wouldn't translate it for me. As time went by and I continued learning Arabic with Marwa, I was so happy to realize that my Arabic skills were improving quite fast. On the one hand, this was because I was in an environment in which I was highly exposed to written and spoken Arabic, but on the other hand it also had to do with the fact that Marwa focussed on teaching me very helpful vocabulary and grammar that I could use immediately. A big *thank you* to Marwa for the interesting and very useful lessons, and the relaxed atmosphere that enhanced my learning curve! Center's Environment I feel so lucky while I am writing this, because literally everyone was nice, welcoming and eager to make me belong! I enjoyed hanging around with the staff and the international fellows so much that I would find myself long after the classes have ended still sitting at the Center and having interesting (and funny!) conversations, e.g. about Palestinian culture and everyday life, about funny aspects of the English and Arabic language, about life in Hebron and many topics more. Now that my stay is coming to an end, I am full of gratitude (and sadness...) as it feels as if I have an extended family in Hebron now - it includes all those who beautified my time at the Excellence Center. Visits The Excellence Center made possible many visits that were tailored to my interests and wishes - I am very grateful that so many doors were opened to enhance my knowledge and experience of Palestinian life in the West Bank. These included tours through the Old City of Hebron and the Ibrahimi Mosque as well as a kindergarden and community center in the Old City; an excursion to Ramallah; a tour through a women-only kitchen that supplies food to families and school canteens; experiencing the graduation party at a school for blind children; visiting the only Kufiyyah factory in the whole of Palestine; going on a hike to see Palestine's beautiful nature; giving a class at the Tanweer Center in Beit Ummar; and incredibly insightful excursions to the Law faculty at Hebron University and to the Chamber of Commerce in Hebron. All of these visits enhanced my understanding of Palestinian life in the West Bank significantly and the open exchanges were incredibly insight- and fruitful! Living with a host family Eventhough I lived a bit outside of Hebron in a town close-by (about 20 minutes by car away), very early on I came to see it as a privilege: Firstly, I had more nature surrounding me and the commute to Hebron made for a nice division between "work time" and "leisure time." Secondly, I had a more nuanced experience of town-life and city-life, as there are slight differences between the two. In a nutshell, I got to see another layer of Palestinian life that would have otherwise been hidden. Most importantly, my host family was incredibly welcoming. From day one, I was part of the family, and this weren't empty words, but lived everyday experience. At the beginning, I had to adjust to the fact that being part of the family means also not having as much me-time as I was used to in Europe, yet I communicated that openly, as well as my vegetarianism. At first this was slightly frowned upon due to its unusual nature: "Me-time instead of us-time? And no meat? You are weird..." But as time progressed, so did the acceptance of my host family, and at visits to other family members they would even advocate for me and explain why I wouldn't eat meat. So I highly recommend being aware of your boundaries, setting them straight at the beginning and bringing along a notch of patience - sooner than later you'll enjoy your time as a family member and you won't want to leave. Safety and Security in Palestine As a lone woman in a foreign country you're always faced with the question of how safe it is being in the streets on your own. I have to say, here in Hebron there wasn't one incident in which I felt unsafe or menaced. Quite on the contrary people here are very courteous and eager to ensure you have a pleasant time. For unseasoned female travellers: As a woman that is noticeably from a different country, you will get looked at (briefly, but noticeably) when you walk on the streets. But this is due to the fact that tourists here are rare, and thus it is unusual to see foreigners. A male fellow international told us that he got looked at because he wore shorts, which is again a highly unusual thing here lol. I can say from my own experience that even these incidents are short, and of a friendly kind. Thus I wouldn't hesitate to recommend coming here and seeing for yourself how welcoming, kind the people here are - they're curious and grateful to get to know you. What I liked most about Palestine What I liked most about Palestine was definitely the people. The resilience and joy of the people I have met here is impressive and heartwarming at the same time. The sense of gratitude that I got from so many acquaintances about me being here and wanting to know more about Palestinian life was so overwhelming. Often I felt unreasonably special, but I quickly learned that this stems from a culture in which hospitality is a high, if not the highest virtue and I felt this every day I spent here. I am very grateful to having gained so many new, interesting, and honest friendships and already look forward to - insha'Allah - coming soon again! My favorite experience in Palestine There were so many nice incidents during my time here! One of the funniest was when my fellow international friend Sheila and I gave our last class in the Fawwar refugee camp. We thought of having a nice game of musical chairs and every time someone would lose a round, they had to make a sentence in English with a given noun, verb, and adjective. Everyone took each round so serious and truly wanted to get a seat, it was hilarious and we had so much fun while actually learning English! Recommendation My time here is unforgettable, so many doors to places and people's hearts were opened thanks to the Excellence Center. If you are interested in more than just a superficial tourist-y glimpse, I highly recommend coming here and taking part in Palestinian everyday life according to your interests and wishes. Not only will you be warmly welcomed, but moreover contribute to lasting learning experiences - the local's, the internationals', and your own.
Program Details
Learn all the nitty gritty details you need to know
Locations
- Hebron, Palestine
Types and Subjects
- Causes
- Childcare & Children
- Community Development
- Culture
Availability
Years Offered: Year Round
- 1-2 Weeks
- 2-4 Weeks
- 5-8 Weeks
Age Requirement
Age Requirement Varies
Guidelines
- All Nationalities
- This Program is also open to Solo, Couples, Group
Cost per week
Program Cost Includes
- Tuition & Fees
- Accommodation / Housing for Program Duration
- Weekday Meals (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
- Language Lessons
Accommodation Options
- Apartment/Flat
- Dormitory
- Home-stays
- Other
Salary & Compensation
It is not paid
Qualifications & Experience
- English
Language Skills Required
- Any/All Education Levels Accepted
Accepted Education Levels
Application Procedures
- Written Application
- Phone/Video Interview
- Online Application
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