By Deanna Senko | Communications Coordinator
Since June, our team has successfully expanded our programming, developed partner relationships, and brought on new team members to increase our provisions of support and boost our awareness raising campaign.
This summer, Lighthouse Relief, in collaboration with a local Greek football club, has facilitated twice-weekly football sessions in Chalkida for young men living in Ritsona Camp. These sessions offer a rare opportunity for participants to leave the camp and integrate in the Greek community. We received a donation of football boots from Kits for the World which provided participants with the proper gear to engage confidently in the game that connects us all. These football sessions foster physical and mental well-being and promote social cohesion. One of our sessions was joined by former Sierra Leonean international player, John Bankole Kamara, who provided a source of inspiration for participants in our sessions.
With conditions in refugee camps becoming more insecure, exacerbating existing vulnerabilities, safe spaces for people seeking refuge, especially women and children, have become more essential than ever. In partnership with Refugym, our team has been facilitating safe space sessions for women and children at the welcoming Sama Community Center. These trauma-informed sessions provide a much needed outlet for connection and resilience. Women share stories and participate in well-being and relaxation activities such as dance, yoga, sports, and jewellery making. They are also able to join self-defense workshops led by EmpowerVan which help them build confidence and physical strength. These sessions offer a form of childcare for women as our team supervises play and loosely structured recreational activities for children designed to develop their skills and promote pro-social behaviours.
One mother joining our sessions for women and children mentioned that she has already noticed changes in her kids and herself since they started coming to the sessions. She told us she feels much calmer and forgets her worries when she's at the Sama Center.
In August, we opened a Summer Camp to accommodate families and single men in our safe space at the Sama Community Center as these groups are often considered to be less vulnerable and are therefore the last to be provided support. Our Summer Camp operated three times a week, offering coffee and chai, arts and crafts, football, volleyball, and basketball, community-led slam poetry workshops, Greek and English lessons, and freshly cooked meals supplied by Project Armonia.
Another mother mentioned how safe and good she and her children feel at our Summer Camp session at the Sama Center and that she's really thankful for some normality during these hard times.
Since June, Lighthouse Relief has welcomed 129 individual participants to our football sessions for a total of 356 participants. Our safe space sessions for women and children welcomed 94 individual participants (42 women, 52 children), and 141 total visitors since July. We were joined by 120 individual participants in our Summer Camp (90 adults, 30 children), supporting approximately 1,523 adults and children throughout the month of August. The total attendance across all our sessions (June to mid-September) exceeded 2,000.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
