Skip to main content

"Capturing the Voice of Venezuelan Migrants" by Douglas Lyon, MD

March 16, 2023

12:25 pm

Uris Hall, G08

The story of TodoSomos, two years on the Venezuelan Colombian border, rigorously documenting the humanitarian crisis through the collection of first-person narrative and how we created an archive of the story that is undeniable and inconvenient to those responsible for the crisis.

TodoSomos on the Colombian Border

TodoSomos is a US-based nonprofit specializing in collecting, analyzing, and sharing narratives of those afflicted by humanitarian crises. Collecting testimony in a rigorous ongoing way provides an undeniable record of what a refugee population has been through over time. Why they left, what they faced on their journey, their fears, and their hopes for the future. Our work is that of sociologists and anthropologists, only in conflict and unstable areas requiring both nimbleness and academic rigor. We sample broadly over a long period and with the open-ended question, “tell us your story.” The story you would share with your best friend, grandfather, or sister. Why did you leave? What happened along the way? Where will you go? What are your hopes and fears?
From the fall of 2019 through the spring of 2022, in 26 legal ledgers, we collected over 2,000 handwritten testimonies. On a monthly basis, we used local community to read through and summarize the narratives. From these narratives, we produced a quarterly report for the United Nations, National and International NGOs, and local governments involved in the immediate response. We will make our greater archive available to academic institutions as they review, reflect, and publish on this critical moment in global history.

About the Speaker

Douglas Lyon is a family physician and epidemiologist with more than 25 years spent working in Oregon and Internationally with Doctors without Borders, the US Centers for Disease Control, and the UN High Commission for Refugees. His work in the US has primarily cared for the underserved in county and migrant health clinics. His international work has been in various positions as a clinician, medical advisor, and country director, principally in complex emergencies and the management of epidemics – HIV/AID, Cholera, Ebola, and COVID-19.

He is the founder of an NGO called TodoSomos, which collects first-person narratives of Venezuelan refugees in Colombia and South America - TodoSomos hopes to bring global attention to the hardship and cause of the displacement of the more than 5 million that have left their country over the last three years.

His favorite quote is from Mahatma Gandhi, ‘The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.’

********

Cosponsored by the Department of Roman Studies

This is an in-person event, however, if you can't make it, join us by registering through the Zoom link below:

https://cornell.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CWI6Hqd-QvO0LpkJTBZ5LQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Additional Information

Program

Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies

Latin American and Caribbean Studies