Lighthouse Relief (LHR) provides immediate humanitarian relief for migrants landing on the Greek island of Lesvos, as well as longer-term programming for young people and children in Ritsona refugee camp on mainland Greece. The closure of borders in March 2016 left tens of thousands of people stranded in camps across mainland Greece, often in unsafe and inhumane conditions. In light of this, LHR adapted quickly to meet the new and emerging needs of vulnerable populations trapped in periods of long-term limbo, with a focus on women, children, & youth.
In 2018, I served as the child protection lead for Lighthouse Relief (LHR) in Ritsona Refugee Camp. There I managed a diverse team of international staff, volunteers, interns, and residents at the camp’s Child Friendly Space (CFS). I created inclusive, alternative learning environments for children 3-15 years old in an emergency context. It was my responsibility to safeguard at-risk children and document protection related concerns in the CFS. As such, I identified critical risks including abuse, neglect, trauma, violence, and sexual exploitation while recording internal incident reports, making external case referrals, and liaising with UN partners. I trained teams in child protection and emergency response on the Greek mainland and on Lesvos island. I attended sub-working group meetings in Ritsona & Athens as LHR protection point person and generated mass inventory & SWOT analysis as part of LHR’s Half Year Analysis. My daily debriefs and organized weekly check-ins with team members facilitated my weekly report updates on data collected and key achievements observed in the space. Through the monitoring and delivery of results I managed program development and planning in a high pressure, sensitive, and ever changing environment.
