Study abroad students provide aid for Syrian refugees

Oklahoma Christian University and Lipscomb University students in September embarked on what some call a once in a lifetime opportunity — to study abroad in Vienna, Austria. About the same time, the borders of Europe were flooded with Syrian people, rushing to escape their war-torn homeland.

“To try and get out of that situation and to protect their families and their children, people are paying smugglers to be able to get on basically life rafts and head into the Mediterranean to try and make their way to the coast of Europe,” Zack Eccleston said, a junior from Lipscomb University.

A few countries, like Germany, responded with open arms as it welcomed refugees into the European Union, according to CNN.

Vienna, Austria — the home of the Oklahoma Christian European Studies program — serves as a crossroads, another stop on the over 1,800 mile-long journey to safety.

“When we got here in September it was immediately something that was brought to our attentions because it is very real here, right in front of your eyes – you see it every day,” Morgan DeLong said, an Oklahoma Christian sophomore.

A couple weeks after their arrival, the study abroad group began noticing refugees in the train stations. According to DeLong, that’s when they began to get involved.

“When you see it, you just have to help,” DeLong said. “I could not ignore what was happening and I think that’s true for everyone that’s really been involved.”

With help from the study abroad program director Melissa Swann, several students began to draw up plans to aid the refugees in their free time.A group of six students from both Oklahoma Christian and Lipscomb formed a committee in order to organize their efforts. DeLong and Eccleston formed the group with Lipscomb junior AC Trigg, Oklahoma Christian sophomores Rachel Hamby, Megan McKinley, Amanda Covalt and junior Jenna Khazoyan.

According to Eccleston, the committee serves as leaders to the rest of the students studying abroad with DeLong as committee head. The committee has made several collection efforts within the larger group for both money and items such as toothpaste and deodorant.

An organization called Train of Hope has been the group’s main source of information for what items are most needed. On their Facebook page, Train of Hope lists the highest need items for that particular day.

Along with the donations, the committee organized a large meal for the refugees.

“A lot of people helped with cooking and it was really cool time of community, all of our sponsors came and helped, it was really special I think,” DeLong said.

The study abroad students visited Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland earlier in the semester. After this trip, Khazoyan said she felt an urgent need to aid the refugees.

“It was a really powerful visit as we walked through the camp and I remember thinking if this happened in my time, what would I do? Would I know about it, would I take the time to learn about it, would I do anything?” Khazoyan said.

Khazoyan said she then thought of the situation right in front of her in Vienna – with the Syrian refugees searching for safety from the dangerous situation in their homeland.

“They’re both very similar, both of them have violence and a place that’s really torn up by war and people fleeing from it,” Khazoyan said. “And I thought ‘I am in just the perfect place at just the right time to do something about it, and I don’t want to waste my time here not doing something about it.’”

If students back home are interested in helping the refugees in Europe, Eccleston and DeLong said they encourage them to first read up on the topic.

Eccleston said a special Humans of New York series highlighting refugees opened his eyes to the situation and encouraged him to become involved as it humanized the refugees. Humans of New York typically photographs people of New York alongside a short quote from the person.

“If you don’t necessarily know a lot about this story, that was a really great place for me to see individual stories that humanize the whole situation,” Eccleston said. “It’s easy to look at it and say ‘Wow, that’s horrible’ and to see it as a human rights issue … To go and see the stories that are posted on Humans of New York, ‘Oh these are individual people that individual actions can help.’”

Khazoyan said prayer is a powerful tool and is valuable to the refugees.

“Prayer is also very important,” Khazoyan said. “Praying for the situation in Syria and praying for the refugees and for the countries that are opening their doors and letting so many people come.”

DeLong said she agreed with Eccleston’s advice to learn more and that many of her friends from back home had no clue about the refugee crisis in Europe.

“Just the awareness more than anything is huge, and not being ignorant to what is happening because it affects everyone,” DeLong said. “I think over time people will start to see how this is not just an isolated problem in Europe, but this is a global thing and it’s a really big deal.”

DeLong said she never expected her study abroad experience to end up like it has.

“I feel like God opened a lot of our eyes,” DeLong said. “It’s just a huge change in perspective, you just realize that these people are humans, just like everyone, just like we are.”

The group returns stateside on December 1, but for remainder of their time abroad, they plan to continue regular collections for items and money as well as cook another meal for the refugees.

Members of the committee hope to spend time volunteering at the train station with Train of Hope.

If students are interested in donating to this cause, they can visit the Train of Hope website. To support other organizations addressing the refugee crisis, visit Samaritan’s Purse, The UN Refugee Agency, UNICEF or the organizations listed on Public Radio International.