The Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine was established in June 2011 as a youth initiative to offer educational and community services to its diverse group of internationals and Palestinians. It is located in the main heart of Hebron on Ein Sarah street which is under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority. The Center’s convenient location makes it easy for internationals and Palestinian students to access it. The Excellence Center/ Engage in Palestine is fully licensed as a cultural and educational center by the Palestinian Ministry of Education. The Excellence Center is fully equipped with high-speed wireless Internet, three classrooms, computers and a big kitchen. The Center offers Palestinian school and university students, community members, international interns, volunteers and students many opportunities to learn, grow and achieve in the their communities. In addition to the conversational English courses, the center organizes activities that will benefit the Palestinian community at large. Such activities have included clothing collections for folks in the refugee camps, English clubs, summer camps for school children, English language workshops, teaching and facilitating the writing of resumes, interoffice memo writing, office email writing, and job interviewing, food festivals, musical concerts, Ramadan iftar meals, cultural workshops addressing cultural differences between peoples, and many other events. The Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine invites internationals year round to come to Palestine to volunteer, intern, visit or study Arabic. The Center organizes educational, cultural and community activities to introduce international interns, volunteers and students to Palestinian culture and daily life. Participants in the international programs have the opportunity to meet the local Palestinians who will share their lives and culture. Since the beginning, the Excellence Center has hosted over 150 international volunteers, interns and students from every corner of the world. Additionally, the Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine’s programs are singular and unique opportunities for internationals seeking to make a difference in the lives of others, as well as their own. The opportunity to work at the Excellence Center provides international volunteers, interns and students with not only first-hand knowledge of Palestinian life and culture in Hebron and the West Bank, with all the political realities, but also direct experience in actually living that life with Palestinians. The Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine maintains excellent relationships, and partnerships with many governmental and non-governmental companies. The Center collaborates with organizations such as the Ministry of Education, Palestine Polytechnic University, Al-Quds University, Hebron University, the Saad Center, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), the Ibdaa Center, the Sharak Center, the Hebron Governance, Al Rabiaa Radio, and Wattan T.V., Al Masar Learning Center, and many others. The Excellence Center believes strongly in the importance that the role of education and cultural exchange play in the lives of the Palestinian and international communities. To that end, the Excellence Center is always seeking to develop and create programs and activities to enhance that role. Today, the Excellence Center/Engage in Palestine occupies a notable presence as an educational, cultural, and community center that offers avenues of opportunity locally and internationally.
