Blog

Sunday March 21 is World Poetry Day. Poetry is truly wondrous as it reaffirms our most common humanity by revealing to us that people, everywhere in the world, share the same questions, emotions, search for meaning and love of language. For centuries it has allowed us to express and communicate our deepest feelings and values across diverse cultures and experiences.  Did you kn ...

Help us reach our fundraising target of $100,000 CAD for our survivor-led refugee resettlement initiative for survivors of sexual violence and torture. Visit the CanadaHelps.org website and please consider donating to Lamp Lifeboat Ladder! Through an agreement with the Canadian Government, we are working to resettle 90 survivors and their families currently living in Jordan and ...

Zahra is a teacher from Sudan and a mother of five children. She is a women and children’s rights activist and a member of the Survivor Council that leads the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder initiative. Zahra spoke to us on December 8, 2020. She is currently living in Jordan with her husband and four of her children.  She shares with us thoughts on health, equity and human rights. Many s ...

In the final blogpost from Razan, she tells us about going back to school, learning new teaching techniques and her dreams for the future. "I enjoyed going back to school to improve my English. I got to meet and speak to many people and we had lovely teachers. My husband and I learnt together for two hours each day. We took our school bags, water, sandwiches – it was fun every ...

LLL participant and teacher Razan explains her motivation to learn English and why it’s so crucial for people to learn the language of their new country. "We knew we would eventually be granted sanctuary in the USA, so I built up my English whilst we were in Spain where my youngest daughter received medical treatment. I spoke to the doctors in English so I could learn about her ...

In observance of International Women’s Day, we spoke to Razan, a Lamp Lifeboat Ladder participant, teacher, interpreter and women's rights activist. In a series of blog posts, Razan discusses teaching experiences, views about women and the family and the importance to refugees of learning their host country's language. Women and education Razan discusses experiences that helpe ...

This direct advocacy piece from a group of torture survivors living in Greece is important because it highlights the unique power and expertise that survivors hold, as they speak directly to issues they are being affected by and living through.  Their piece also highlights the failures of the Greek government to protect them from COVID-19, which in the end is a failure to prote ...

I thought this article by Heaven Crawley, professor at the Centre for Trust Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, was very interesting as it highlights how many academics, policy makers and others working in the refugee sector propose solutions to that work in the interests of the global north, and that these ‘solutions’ often perpetuate ‘out of sight out of mind’ ...

Lamp Lifeboat Ladder’s pilot project is a special program with the Canadian government to provide safe, new homes for 90 torture and sexual violence survivors and their families. Forty of these survivors and their families are currently living in Jordan, with some having fled from Syria. Sadly, the impact of the global pandemic has been particularly harsh on Syrian refugees liv ...

Looking back on 2020, we reflect on the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on people around the world, particularly on refugees and survivors of torture and sexual violence. It has also shown us their enormous strength and resilience. Throughout the pandemic, our initiative Lamp Lifeboat Ladder has continued to accompany refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based violence on ...