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Woodlands Academy Students Work with Refugees in Vienna,

The usual ongoing student exchange between Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest and Sacre Coeur Wien, Vienna, Austria, now in its ninth year, was anything but typical this October as students got to help Syrian refugees first-hand.

Both schools are part of the Sacred Heart network spanning the U.S. and 40 other countries on six continents. Sacred Heart schools educate to instill a social awareness which impels to action as part of their mission.

Each quarter, Woodlands Academy students, usually through the Service Club, select a project to support. This year, two students suggested helping the Syrian refugees. The Service Club and then the entire school got on board and collected $1,200 during a week in late September. Nine students, plus two teachers, headed to Vienna for the annual exchange Oct. 1.

Woodlands Academy Director of Global Education Amy Perlick, a chaperone, said three of the students on the exchange, as well as the Viennese students, had the opportunity to work with Train of Hope, a grassroots organization running programs for refugees at the Hauptbahnhof train station in Vienna. Sister Gudrun Schellner, a religion teacher at Sacre Couer Wien, connected Woodlands Academy with Train of Hope. The other Woodlands students worked at a Syrian refugee shelter, where people from many different countries such as Syria, Africa, Iraq, and Afghanistan are living.

Run by volunteers, many of them young adults, Train of Hope provides food, beverages, clothing, legal advice, temporary housing at the train station, and medical and psychological aid to the refugees.

Woodlands Academy students and their Viennese counterparts worked side by side with the refugees.

"A couple of our students sorted and distributed clothing. Others chopped vegetables and prepared lunches, while some students picked up garbage," Perlick said, adding that they rotated tasks so everyone got the full experience.

Elizabeth Bettuzzi, a junior from Park Ridge, said she enjoyed distributing clothing, which was challenging due to various sizes needed and not an ample supply of particular sizes, plus religious considerations. She said some of the items were rejected for being too flashy or tight, for example. But others were a perfect match.

"One lady came to get a coat to keep warm during the winter," Bettuzzi said. "She was easy going and had a smile on her face. We communicated through hand gestures, and she found a coat that worked for her, put it on, and her smile grew tremendously - by three times. It lit up the room and was so rewarding.

"I realized that I was changing a life, in a small way, helping her to move forward. I don't need thanks. You could tell these were amazing women who had great potential. It's extremely brave to uproot yourself from your home, but you could see their motivation and determination to live."

Another student, junior Aniz Anderson of Mundelein, sorted toiletries and also played with children.

"There was a Kids Corner, away from all the business, where kids could play and draw," she said. "We played monkey in the middle. I also colored with a little girl who was probably six. She drew hearts and flowers and later gave me her drawing, which was so sweet. She didn't have to give it to me. I still have it and will treasure it."

Anderson added that she realized the children she helped, once they grow up, can explain the history they lived through and how significant that will be. At the moment, though, she felt uncomfortable being thanked.

"I didn't want the children's parents to thank me," she said. "Helping wasn't a burden. Hopefully, at that moment, I helped someone and made a difference."

It also turned out that an alumna of Woodlands Academy, Ingrid Watts, who graduated in 2012 and is majoring in economics and music at the University of Chicago, is studying abroad in Vienna and reached out to Perlick, thinking she was at home in the U.S., to get contact information for the Sacre Coeur Wien school.

Watts was able to connect with her alma mater at the train station and she said she was impressed with the Train of Hope's vision, leaders and quality of service. She also got to work in one of the food stations, arranging fruits, slicing vegetables, making sandwiches, and providing drinks for the refugees.

"I will always remember the children at this station," Watts said. "Their faces were so full of life and innocence, and they laughed and played together just like the children I know. I smiled to myself when a little boy who was barely the height of the table grabbed a sugar cube, looked me in the eye with a guilty smile, popped the cube in his mouth, and shrugged, turned, then ran away. A few other children were soon to follow."

Watts added that serving the refugees has deepened her understanding of Vienna. "It would be very easy to leave Vienna having only seen the city in its glorified aspects - the symphony, the palaces, the opera and the vineyards. Interacting with the refugees forced me to engage with a more vulnerable side of Europe, which is incredibly real. The experience strengthened my conviction that Wien is a city of passionate individuals. It was amazing to watch people from across the city bond together in support of both the refugees and the principle that 'all are welcome; no one will be turned away.'"

Seeing the current Woodlands Academy students interact with the refugees was special, Watts explained.

"They are a group of mature, responsible, upbeat and kindhearted young women who genuinely care about the world around them and relevant societal programs. Watching them represent Woodlands so beautifully in this foreign city made me proud that I, too, attended the Sacred Heart school. I am confident that each of them will do great things with their Woodlands education."

Woodlands Academy students need to perform at least 70 hours of community service to graduate. Many students become passionate about service and far exceed the minimum hours.

Seven students who are now seniors were recognized last year for doing a combined 1,058 hours of service and for having service an integral part of their lives.

The Sacre Couer Wien students will visit Woodlands Academy March 5-18, 2016.

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