Wayne teen volunteers at center for Ukrainian refugees, condemns 'pointless war'
WAYNE — James Sun likes to help people, so when he had a chance to get involved in one of the largest forced migrations in human history, he did the most responsible thing that he could do.
He stepped forward to enlist.
Sun, a senior at Wayne Valley High School, traveled more than 4,200 miles to Vienna this summer to volunteer at a community center for Ukrainian refugees. He worked for several weeks in a children’s room there, looking after boys and girls displaced from their homeland.
He sought out the honorable assignment because he was interested in polishing his Russian-speaking skills, but he said the experience was far more enlightening than he anticipated.
The refugees, Sun said, do not have a platform to “express all of their needs.”
“And everything that they left behind just because of this pointless war,” said Sun, 17, the Student Council president at the high school.
He said he identified with their painful stories since his own family endured similar crises in Asia. “I felt that connection,” he said, “because of how there was a parallel there.”
Sun’s paternal grandparents fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War, a decades-long conflict that ended in December 1949. His mother’s uncle, he said, fled to a refugee camp in Malaysia following the fall of Saigon, which effectively finished the Vietnam War in April 1975.
He said his great-uncle was later granted asylum in Vienna, and it was with his family that he stayed during the overseas trip.
Sun recently reported on his visit to the Board of Education, drawing a round of applause from officials.
“James, that’s a wonderful story,” said Mark Toback, the schools superintendent. “You’re a credit to your school community.”
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 6.2 million people have fled from Ukraine since the nation was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
All but 369,200 of them are scattered throughout Europe, including in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
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The agency that Sun volunteered for there, Train of Hope, provides free clothes and meals to the refugees, and it assists them in finding housing and jobs.
Sun held an online fundraiser for Train of Hope when he returned home, collecting $4,270 that he said will offset its operating costs.
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne Valley student travels to Europe to help Ukrainian refugees
