On March 3, 2022, study abroad students and faculty associated with Oklahoma Christian University and Lipscomb University encountered Ukrainian refugees on a train.
Oklahoma Christian Dean of Humanities and Bible, Charles Rix, took his the Bible After the Holocaust class on their regularly scheduled trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp. On their way back, they had an unexpected train change and boarded one that started at the Poland-Ukraine border.
Rix said they had discussed the refugee situation beforehand. When it arrived, however, Rix said “that’s when it got real.”
“Even though we were prepared for there to be refugees, we weren’t prepared for the sheer number of them,” Rix said.
Oklahoma Christian Director of International Programs, John Osborne, said the refugee movement is of historical size. According to a report from USA Today, over 3 million refugees have left Ukraine as of March 19.
“It’s the largest migration of people since World War II,” Osborne said.
Like the one in the photo, the train Rix’s group boarded was packed, offering free travel to any person with a Ukrainian passport. Rix said some passengers were unhappy with the circumstances.
“There were people on the train who were quite angry with the conductor that there were people sitting in their seats,” Rix said. “In other words, they were holding their tickets and saying, ‘I have these three tickets, and there’s people sitting in my seat, do something about it,’ … and I just thought, ‘well, that’s a real contrast to our group.’”
Rix said the students willingly gave up their seats and sat on suitcases or the floor, “just trying to make the best of it and trying to be generous to people who needed seats and didn’t have them.”
Carson Towns, a student at Oklahoma Christian, said he is proud of his classmates.
“In such a tumultuous time, I’m proud to be a part of a school that embodies Christ-like behavior and shows love to those that need it,” Towns said.
Alexandra Bright, a Lipscomb student, said the encounter impacted her perspective.
“We all can assume what it’s like and assume how we would personally react, but actually seeing and actually meeting the people has made a big difference,” Bright said. “These people are normal people like us. If I didn’t know that they were fleeing a country, that Ukraine was being attacked, I would think they’re just normal people traveling.”
The following Wednesday, March 16, Bright visited a refugee camp at the Sport & Fun Halle in Ottakring, Vienna, Austria.
“I was helping with the kids, and these kids, they’re like best friends with everybody. They’d all get along and help each other,” Bright said. “They would come up to me and hand me drawings and, again, it’s like I was a part of the community even though I didn’t speak the language.”
Bright said she did not expect this from her semester in Vienna.
“This is not the experience I thought I would remember the most, but I think it will be the most impactful,” Bright said.
Rix said the trip moved him as well.
“An experience like this really gives a person perspective on what’s important in life,” Rix said.”It illustrates how fragile life can be. It illustrates to really appreciate what we have.”
Osborne said Rix is not the only faculty to value the opportunities provided by the study abroad program.
“(I) had one faculty member (Bailey McBride) that said to me one time, ‘I think more net learning happens on a semester studied abroad than almost any other time during the student’s experience at university,’” Osborne said.
The study abroad program offers alternative learning opportunities, though sometimes a semester is made unique by world events. For example, an Oklahoma Christian group was in Europe when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and when 9/11 happened, students studying in China and Vienna saw the world respond.
Osborne said in times like those, students in the study abroad program were, and currently are, witnessing history in a different context.
“They’re there, they’re not just seeing it – we’re all seeing it – but they’re experiencing it. And that’s the significant difference,” Osborne said.
The students’ experiences and interactions also made an impact, Rix told Osborne in an email.
“The spirit of the students is one you would all be proud of,” Rix said. “They are so generous and compassionate. Christ makes such a difference.”
Learn more about the study abroad program here.
0
0
Be First to Comment