Blog

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 ...

Today is International Women’s Day. What better way to mark this day than by celebrating an incredible family in our Lamp Lifeboat Ladder project, in particular two inspiring, smart young women, both studying at university, whom I met during my recent trip to Jordan. Ahlam and Angham talked to me about their university studies and their hopes and dreams for the future. Ahlam an ...

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 ...

In December 2021, one of our most committed supporters and donors, Dean Dakolias, kindly offered to match up to $100,000 in donations to Lamp Lifeboat Ladder from Reed Smith lawyers by the end of the year.  We’re thrilled to announce that in just 16 days a group of incredibly generous lawyers at Reed Smith donated over $150,000, taking our total raised to $250,000 including Dea ...

During conflict and instability, women are often victims of torture and other horrific forms of harm. They remain vulnerable to abuse in flight, in camps, and in urban refugee settings. They are often afraid to report sexual violence because of shame or fear of being ostracized by their families, which leaves them at even greater risk. Almost 1 in 3 women globally have been abu ...

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 ...