Survivor-led Approach - Lamp Lifeboat Ladder

We mark today, World Refugee Day, by sharing some writing and photos on the theme of ancestors and family, from some of the writers in “Tomorrow’s Hope: Modern Creativity Group” Writing Group.  Some of the authors prefer to call the day ‘World Survivor Day’. By Anonymous To describe our own ancestors, and what we see in them in relation to our current life, our ancestors are pe ...

Here is the final piece of writing from the writers in the “Tomorrow’s Hope: Modern Creativity Group” in honor of World Refugee Day.  By Thege I am the gendarme, or pyrrhocorid, a Hemiptera insect that wears red and black colors. * I am not dangerous neither for the man, nor for the animals. I don't have an unpleasant odor and I don't sting. * I'm not a garden pest either. I do ...

Playwright and activist Catherine Filloux has written a fantastic artist spotlight about Amin Al-Badra, who is a writer, visual artist and participant in Lamp Lifeboat Ladder.  The piece has been published in Brandeis University's Peacebuilding in the Arts newsletter! Catherine works with and facilitates the Tomorrow's Hope: Modern Creativity writing group comprising survivors ...

In June 2022, Lamp Lifeboat Ladder began a writing group for survivors in the program. The aim of the group is to provide a dedicated space for survivors to learn new, or enhance their existing, writing skills and creative talents and build a community of survivor writers. It is also meant to provide an alternative to the norm of survivors often being only seen as one dimension ...

The Lamp Lifeboat running team continues to go from strength to strength! Together, the team of 15 runners has run more than a dozen races across the world this year.  This Saturday 10 December - Human Rights Day - 10 members of the team in Canada ran a 10K race and then on Sunday they ran the Santa Shuffle race in Toronto dressed up in Santa outfits! Even though it was 14 degr ...

Many of the women and girls in our Lamp Lifeboat Ladder program have experienced violence, either in the country from which they fled, or on their migration journey. We provide them with safe shelter, health care, access to psychological and other social support and community, as well as securing for them legal pathways to protection.   We stand in solidarity with all women and ...

The amazing Abdo has been part of the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder family for more than 5 years. He resettled to Toronto in October 2021 with his parents and siblings. Since arriving he has started interviewing passersby in different parts of Toronto, asking them questions about the city and filming their responses, adding the clips to his YouTube channel 'Abdo Tube'.  He said it's a f ...

Congratulations to eight members of our Lamp Lifeboat Ladder running team who completed the Dead Sea 10K race in Jordan last week!!!  This was the first official race the team has participated in since the marathon team began and we smashed it!  My name is Saeed, I'm originally from Syria and I am the Lamp Lifeboat Ladder Athletics Director. I ran with our international directo ...

At the beginning of 2022, our director Jayne Fleming teamed up with a survivor in our project to train for a marathon together. They knew it would be tough, but it’s a great goal to focus on, and helps one get fit in the process. They picked the Istanbul Marathon in November 2022 as the race they would aim for. When Jayne shared this plan with team members and other survivors i ...

We are so happy to share with you that four survivors in our program left Greece and arrived in Canada last Thursday! The three individuals and one family were met at the airport by two survivors who have already resettled and members of their ally groups who will accompany and support them as they start to build new lives in Canada.  So far, 15 survivors and their families - a ...