Help LHR Continue its Vital Programming in Greece

On the island of Lesvos and in Ritsona Camp on the mainland of Greece, the need for a dignified humanitarian response is greater than ever. Through the winter of 2019, and in the first month of 2020, our teams across Greece have been hard at work responding to increased needs for emergency aid and psychosocial support.

Over the course of 2019, our teams on Lesvos assisted 14,531 people arriving - more than double the number of people whom we supported last year. Half of those arriving were under the age of 18, with 948 making the dangerous journey on their own. Throughout this busy year, our team led 365 operations and our spotting volunteers identified 125 boats arriving to the north shore, enabling a fast and efficient response from our landing team. When our teams are not responding to landings or on spotting shifts, they engage in regular trainings to ensure that they are prepared. In addition to spotting and landing training, volunteers also engage in specialised workshops such as throwline training, or we join our friends at Refugee Rescue for trainings on spotting or transporting potentially injured people from a landed boat to a safe place.

Although the cold, rain and rough seas during the winter make the crossing more perilous, people continue to flee. In the first month of 2020 our teams have provided a warm welcome to 834 people. We have also had to contend with the difficult possibility of the closure of Stage 2 transit facility, a key point at which new arrivals receive shelter and vital assistance upon arrival, before being transferred to Moria Camp. In the face of these challenges, our teams are determined to continue providing emergency support to people fleeing conflict and persecution and are always ready adapt our operations given the ever-changing circumstances. 

Meanwhile, on the mainland, Ritsona Camp has received over 1,500 new residents, many transferred from Moria Camp on Lesvos, and Vathy Camp on Samos. Among them, there are 700-800 children who will not be able to access formal education until the autumn of 2020. As they wait for the next step of their asylum procedures, it is more important than ever to offer them the opportunity to participate in psychosocial activities. Today, our numbers in Ritsona are higher than ever - our Child Friendly Space is welcoming over 100 children to programming everyday, while the Youth Engagement Space is welcoming over 135 people every day. Our CFS team is adapting their programming to ensure that we can respond to these increased needs, offering activities such as crafts, including watercolouring, drawing and structured play. 

Through the winter, we have continued to offer a plethora of workshops in the Youth Engagement Space, a drop-in center for youth as well as a place for structured activities. In December, we co-led photography and videography workshops with talented youth in the space, including a photography workshop led by a resident and skilled photographer from Afrin, Syria. We also continued to elevate the voices of the talented youth who use the space, creating a video rendition of - "Stateless," a poem by Adnan Hassan, which powerfully captures the experience of displacement that touches millions of lives worldwide. Now, with increased numbers in the YES, we are offering a wide range of language workshops and skills workshops, ensuring that we have a diverse range of options to offer the growing population of the camp. 

As we look toward the New Year, it is clear that we face many challenges ahead. Thanks to your support, Lighthouse Relief has a strong and prepared team to carry our work forward through these challenges, and to ensure that we are an unwavering source of support for people arriving in search of safety, and for those waiting in limbo on the Mainland. 

Links:

• Take a Look at Lighthouse Relief's Impact on Lesvos in 2019
• Watch a visual & spoken rendition of "Stateless" by Adnan Hassan