Just a Little Help Can Make a Big Difference

Tears filled my eyes as I watched a video about all kinds of refugees who struggled in the

refugee camp at school called AIS in Vienna. I’ve watched similar videos in other places, too. Like what

are their struggles, how they overcome it and even about their lives. In class, I had to read a book about

a refugee named Selemawi and his hard life. Because of that, I began to think a lot about refugees and

unfortunate people. ‘I’m just a child. Even if I want to help them, I have no power to do so.’ I thought

that every time when refugees came into my mind. But I’ve never thought I could really be able to help

them with my own hands and strength.

“Mom! We’re late! If we arrive late, I won’t have any place to sit!” I called to my mom, who was

getting herself ready as quickly as possible.

“Come, Amy. Let’s wait for your mom in the car,” dad muttered. And that’s what we did. As I

started to get impatient, I saw mom half running, half walking towards the car. As soon as she sat in the

car, my dad drove away.

As the automobile neared the church, I saw people greeting each other at the front of the small-

looking church with white walls and a sign that read: ‘Today Vienna, Tomorrow the WORLD!’ in Korean.

It was a nice sunny Sunday, when most people rest. But we Christians go to a place called church and

there, we learn everything about Jesus and his father, God himself. Well, I love when the teachers tell

stories about Jesus and God, but sometimes, I have to admit that some stories are cruel, scary, sad or

even boring. But, the teachers try their best to get our interests so we can listen to it more enthusiasti-

cally which is fine with me. There, we also learn about Jesus’ life and a little bit of history too, especially

Israelite and Christian history, relating it to Jesus.

As a Christian, I try hard to be different than people who don’t believe in Jesus. I mean, if the

Christians act and think the same as normal people, there’s no meaning to being a Christian. Also, I don’t

know why but I like Jesus better than the God.

Today, we were inviting many child refugees to our church because today was shortly after ‘Kids

Day(5th of May)’, a special day when the adults give presents to the kids and our church thought that

refugee children should also have fun in this ‘Kids Day’. As I went in to the kids section (adults and kids

listen to different preaching), I saw some refugee kids looking around and taking in all their surround-

ings: funny-looking Asian strangers who were Korean kids laughing and speaking German and kind-look-

ing teachers scolding them to be quiet and stay calm. They looked like European with a dark brown hair

and big dark brown eyes except that they were from East Asia. I could clearly see that they were shy and

nervous.

There was barely a seat left when I reached the children section. But luckily, my church teachers

came around and found me a seat. I looked around and began to take in all the surroundings just like

the refugees. Most of the small and big refugees sat at the front and some sat in the middle. Every

teacher and child tried their best to look delighted even if they had a bad day and smiled warmly at the

refugees. Also, they could only speak German so, well… lucky that nearly all of us normal children could

speak German very well and a little Korean (some of them were born in Austria) that we could communi-

cate. We had our normal preaching and singing in German and a little bit of English (the first Sunday of

the month is always like that) and as we nearly came to an end, I was in a very good mood. But I was a

little bit disappointed that I didn’t have time to talk to the refugee kids that day.

“COOKIES!” The teachers told us to go up and enjoy making cookies. We got separated from the

refugee children and went upstairs to make banana-shaped cookies. Hard work, I say. Just looking at

them made my mouth watered. They looked easy to make. The flour was already made for us so we

only had to shape it in to banana-looking cookies. Except when I really started, I realized that it was

harder than I thought. The refugee kids already left to their camp when I finished shaping the cookies.

Well, of course I had no idea of what they did while we shaped the cookies, but I’m guessing that they

left right after the preaching. I thought back to when the meeting with the refugee children were a lot

more fun than this boring ‘just-sitting-and-listening’ and BOOM! Time to go. What fun would normal

children have? What fun would the refugee children have? Surely the first time with the refugees were a

lot of fun with all the games, activities, movies and a lot more. I closed my eyes and thought about that

first day with refugees. It all started with an awkward silence and staring.

“Hallo!” All the refugees stared at us with their big, dark brown eyes. We, normal children, were

all just staring at each other and the refugee kids in our church. But soon, some refugee kids sat on the

teachers’ lap and some others held our hands tightly like if we were one of their sibling or something. All

of us while holding hands with the refugee kids, followed the teachers up the stairs to watch a movie (in

German of course, the refugee kids can only speak German).

“Schöne Tasche!” A little black haired girl with big, round eyes said to me in German.

“Danke!” I said in the same language. I saw her name tag which read: Sarah. So, her name is

Sarah, I thought. Sarah tried to sit on my lap but failed so I scooped her up and put her on my lap. After

the movie, Sarah and I had to separate from each other but Sarah wouldn’t let go of my hands. So the

teachers had a small talk with each other and told her that she can stay with me which made Sarah

happy. We all, the teachers, the refugees and the normal church kids, went to the kids/baby playground

near the church and played until our body could take no more. The kind teachers set up some activities:

face painting, all sorts of games, running around, and much more which made us exhausted and tired.

At last, all the fun activities were done and finally it was time for me to go home. “Auf Wiederse-

hen!” I called to Sarah who was also getting ready to go back. She was among the other refugees and

she stared at me until I was out of sight. I was happy because I brightened Sarah’s day and I really hoped

that Sarah will overcome the challenges she face in the camp, for example bullying and learning how to

speak German and English, with her experience of this joyful day.

This was a lot better than the second meeting with the refugee kids. There was more laughter,

fun, and smiles. When I thought of those two memories, I realized that I could help the refugees too.

And actually, it was not hard to help. You just have to be easy going and laugh together with the

refugees, that’s all. Giving a little bit of my time and kindness to the refugee kids got the things I think

they need most in their life: hope and happiness. ‘JUST A LITTLE KINDNESS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

COMPLETELY IN THE FUTURE!’ I think that’s the most important lesson I learned while helping the

refugee kids. Honestly, I am looking forward on meeting them again next year. Yay!