Sport & Safe Spaces for Refugee Families in Greece

The International Peace and Sport Forum awarded Lighthouse Relief the 2024 "Empowerment through Sport" award! They recognized how children living in Ritsona camp have come to rely on our weekly football, basketball and other activities to help them overcome trauma, social isolation, and anxiety.

"I'm very proud of our team, volunteers, local sports partners, and everyone contributing to this program. It feels great to be recognized by such a prestigious organization," says Score4TheFuture program leader Jellina Keulen, who accepted the award in December in Monaco. 

More about our award-winning program:

Score4TheFuture uses sports to address the particular psychological and social needs of refugee children living in an isolated camp. It empowers 400 children and young adults yearly to overcome social exclusion and thrive despite challenging circumstances.

The approach is trauma-informed, meaning that it recognizes the impact of trauma on participants and aims to foster safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and healing. The program blends psychology, sports science, and gender studies to support personal development and community building in line with Sport For Development principles. It imparts valuable life skills such as conflict resolution, respect for social norms, regulating negative emotions, and teamwork. It also promotes gender equality, mutual respect, and community cohesion among participants from different cultural, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. 

Regular interaction with local peers through the participation of Greek sports clubs in football tournaments and joint practice sessions is a crucial feature that eases refugee integration into the host society.

Participant feedback and stories:

"Usually, we spend all day in the camp with nothing to do. When we get to play a match against the local Greek team or play amongst ourselves and enjoy our time together without thinking about anything else for 90 minutes, it's good for our mental health." - Adam (name changed for privacy), age 23 from Sierra Leone.

Two young siblings rarely missed a sports session over the two years they were in Ritsona Camp, and they especially enjoyed our summer camp. When it came time for their family to leave Ritsona, the children and their parents came to say goodbye, take pictures with us and express their gratitude. "Thank you for letting our children have fun. They learned a lot with you,"  Sara, their mom, told us.

When 10-year-old George (name changed for privacy) started attending our activities, we had to assign a team member to keep a close eye on him because he would often start fights, ignore the instructions, and disrupt the exercises for the other children. Like many refugee children, he was suffering from the trauma of being uprooted and living under harsh conditions. As time went by, though, his football skills improved, and it helped him gain confidence. Soon enough, he began passing the ball, listening to the referee and cheering on other players in his team. He even apologized for a foul and helped the other player up!

Lighthouse Relief just turned nine-years, prompting us to reflect on nearly a decade of striving to inject dignity and compassion into Greece’s refugee response. 

When our founding volunteers formed Lighthouse Relief in September 2015 it was out of an imperative to respond to the sudden arrival of thousands of refugees reaching the shores of Lesvos via unseaworthy vessels embarking from Turkey. Nearly everyone was fleeing the escalating war in Syria.

Neither our founders nor anyone else expected that tens of thousands of people would continue to seek safety in Europe (largely via Greece) from a growling list of countries experiencing  violent conflict and natural as well as man-made disasters every year for the foreseeable future. 

Yet as this reality became clear, Lighthouse Relief adapted and stepped up to meet the changing needs of people seeking safe harbor. 

From our “Stage 1” camp on Lesvos to the safe spaces we ran in Ritsona and other official and makeshift camps around Greece, we have stood in solidarity with people striving to rebuild their lives. Every decision has been  based on our commitment to putting the needs of the people we serve first, upholding human dignity, and proving ourselves worthy of trust, respect, and partnership. 

This remain true today. It underpins our ongoing provision of mental health and psychosocial for children and teens living in Ritsona camp through Sports4Hope and our plans to find new ways to address prevalent food insecurity and other pressing needs.

As we embark on our tenth year, we face more hostility and less available funding. Nevertheless, we remain  determined not to let down the families who have come to rely our support. Together, we will keep pushing forward, guided by the same spirit of compassion and hope that began on the cliffs of Skala Sikamineas.    

Thank you for standing by our side throughout this journey. It’s hard to find the words to express our deep gratitude to the thousands of  volunteers who built and kept Lighthouse alive and to everyone who supported us from afar, spreading awareness, sending donations, or boxes of clothes and shoes — we are forever thankful.

In solidarity,

Lighthouse Relief