A conversation with Diana, our Resident Volunteer Programme Facilitator
Diana, RVP Facilitator, shares her experiences working with LHR in Ritsona Refugee Camp.
What is your title?
I am Lighthouse Relief’s Resident Volunteer Facilitator in Ritsona Camp!
Where are you from?
A small town called Nowogród Bobrzański in Poland
How long have you been with Lighthouse Relief?
I’ve been involved with LHR since summer 2018. I was a volunteer in the Child Friendly Space in the summers of 2018 and 2019. I joined as RVP Facilitator in summer 2020. In the meantime, I was serving internationally as an LHR Ambassador.
What did you do before you joined Lighthouse?
Overall, it’s been a mixture of international academic, clinical, research, and policy work. I have an MA in Psychology, and currently I am a doctoral candidate (PhD in Psychology)
What made you want to work with LHR?
The focus on psychosocial support. All my background, as well as future goals at that time, revolved around developing and implementing psychosocial interventions for culturally diverse individuals.
I felt that I had something to contribute to support LHR’s efforts. Apart from my interests and the alignment between LHR operations and my background, I just genuinely felt that the only actually meaningful thing I can share with someone is time. Skills, knowledge, perspectives are all transient and relative. The time is the thing that matters most. We all are on a journey, and yet some of us face significant challenges and obstacles on this journey. I believed, and I still do, that the right thing to do is to share my time, coupled with the skill set I have, to support individuals as they are coping with these challenges.
Of course, what I can offer is a drop in the ocean, and that is why I believe that fostering leadership and autonomy among Resident Volunteers bolsters their individual and collective resilience.
What has been your favourite memory/standout moment at Lighthouse so far?
So many! Last year I created a stress management and resilience-building group for teen girls and one of the situations got to me. The group had teens from different places and ethnicities. One girl was bullied by other group members because of her background. After a few sessions during one of the relaxation exercises, other girls spontaneously invited that single girl to join them in a pillow castle that they created. They hugged her and called ‘a friend’.
I felt beyond joyful as I witnessed how this genuine sense of friendship was emerging in front of me despite their differences and tensions. I perceived that as a magical embodiment of the most beautiful qualities that all of us carry deep inside our souls, hearts, spirits. These connections are so fragile yet they build our collective resilience, and it is fundamental to scaffold the attempts that kids make to connect with each other, as these efforts may directly translate to the decisions and attitudes that their adult versions will be making and demonstrating in the future.
What does a typical day at Lighthouse look like for you?
My day starts with communication and coordination with all of our Resident Volunteers, after which I have check-ins and follow-ups individually with the volunteers.
During programming, I assist and mentor Resident Volunteers, encouraging their leadership. An important part of my day is also teaching and modeling positive coping skills among RVs.
I also provide direct psychological or psychosocial support to RVs whenever they need it. Depending on the week, I’ll also implement longer training sessions around topics such as child protection, conflict resolution, emotion regulation, and leadership.
What do you most love about your job?
I love the diversity of people with whom I work in all regards (gender, culture, language); an ever-changing environment that requires a lot of problem-solving, creativity, and flexibility; genuine connections with people based on curiosity, compassion, and care; all this is super important to me.
I am always humbled to witness other people’s resilience and how it unfolds — it’s a very powerful testimony of human strength. There has not been a single day, spent with the community either on-site or remotely, that has not had an impact on me — I have received the most powerful lessons of acceptance, compassion, care, and resilience from the residents including young kids.
What do you wish people knew about the situation in Greece?
I wish that we realised that people who are migrating here carry a lot of potential — they are not a threat.
I wish that we realised that it is our mutual and collective responsibility to provide appropriate education to all individuals.
I wish we realised the detrimental impact of “othering.” I wish we were connected with our curiosity — not only to acknowledge and appreciate someone’s dignity and potential but also to create opportunities to be a platform for that potential to unfold. This intercultural exchange will benefit all of society in the long-term.
Is there anything else you want people to know about you?
I do not work 24/7! I love weaving, knitting, embroidery, oil painting, playing instruments, and long hikes in the mountains (if the restrictions allow for it).
