Blog

Our unique survivor-led refugee resettlement project, Lamp Lifeboat Ladder and primary implementing partner, Reed Smith LLP, have been short-listed by American Lawyer Media’s Legalweek 2022 Leaders in Tech Law Awards 2022.  We have been nominated in the ‘Innovations in Pro Bono’ category! In September 2019, the government of Canada signed Public Policies authorizing resettlemen ...

Tomorrow, 18 December, is International Migrants Day, a day designed to encourage us to think about the challenges and difficulties of international migration. This year’s theme – It Takes a Community – seeks to remind us of our interdependence, our common humanity and the special and unique contributions we make to our shared communities. Whilst I think that term ‘migrant’ is ...

Our international project director and creative inspiration Jayne Fleming describes Lamp Lifeboat Ladder and why it is such a unique and special initiative in this video. The name ‘Lamp Lifeboat Ladder’ comes from a Rumi poem, ‘Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.’ The name was chosen by survivors of torture an ...

As we enter the fall – in the northern hemisphere at least – we at Lamp Lifeboat Ladder have plenty to reflect upon following a packed summer schedule of legal work, accompaniment, creative thinking and strategic planning. During June, July and August, 20 members of our team from Jordan, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Greece and Egypt travelled to Athens to support ...

The vision of giving survivors of torture a chance to heal and start a new life is coming to fruition in 2021, though a resettlement program led by Reed Smith lawyers. Seven families (28 individuals) have already arrived in Toronto and Alberta, Canada, with their families for resettlement through Lamp Lifeboat Ladder. The families are from Syria, Iran and the Democratic Republi ...

The journey of many survivors began when they realized they were no longer safe in their own homes. From that moment, the path they believed their life was on changed drastically and they were forced to face more suffering and hardship than they could have imagined. Many have moved from place to place, country to county, and none have been able to properly settle since their li ...

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 ...