service
SUN
Wayne teen goes to Vienna to volunteer
HERE COMES THE
WRITTEN BY PHILIP DEVENCENTIS
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 hecould do . He stepped forward toenlist . Sun , asenior at Wayne Valley High School , traveled more than 4,200 miles to Vienna , Austria , this summer to volunteer atacommunity center for Ukrainian refugees . He worked for several weeks in achildren ’ sroom 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 says the experience was far more enlightening than he anticipated .
The refugees , Sun says , donot have a platform to “ express all of their needs .”
“ And everything that they left behind just because of this pointless war ,” says Sun , 17 , the Student Council president at the high school .
He says he identified with their painful stories since his own family endured similar crises in Asia . “ I felt that connection ,” he says ,“ because of how there was aparallel there .”
Sun ’ s paternal grandparents fled to Taiwan after the Chinese CivilWar , adecades-long conflict that ended in December 1949 . His mother ’ suncle , he
SAFE PLACE Children ' s room at Train of Hope community center in Vienna , Austria , where Sun worked .
says , fled to arefugee camp in Malaysia following the fall of Saigon , which effectively finished the Vietnam War in April 1975 .
He says his great-uncle was later granted asylum in Vienna , and it was with his family that hestayed during the overseas trip .
Sun recently reported on his visit to the Board ofEducation , drawing a round of applause from officials .
“ James , that ’ sawonderful story ,” says Mark Toback , the schools superintendent . “ You ’ re acredit 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 ofthem are scattered throughout Europe , including in Vienna , the capital of Austria .
The agency that Sun volunteered for there , Train of Hope , provides f ree 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 says will offset its operating costs . ■
COURTESY OF JAMES SUN
14 FALL 2023 WAYNE MAGAZINE