Mountain Matters: TodoSomos Brings Venezuelan Refugee Crisis Testimonies to the Mt. Hood Villages

As immigration continues to be a topic of relentless discussion, it goes without saying that many people are accepting risk and danger to enter countries for better opportunities. Whether it is due to economic crisis, organized crime, or an overall desire to better themselves, refugees continue to risk everything for a chance at a better future. And while many members of our community can say they have experienced this firsthand, a few members of our Mt. Hood Villages family are going above and beyond for the cause.

Dr. Douglas Lyon and wife, Solymet Lyon, of Mt. Hood Villages founded TodoSomos, a nonprofit organization which shares personal testimonies and stories of those crossing the Columbian/Venezuelan border. A complex humanitarian crisis in terms of economic collapse, food and medical shortages, and a complete breakdown of public services, Venezuelan citizens have been experiencing what Americans will never have to endure. According to Dr. Lyon, to really understand the plight these people are in, you must first hear the stories they share as to how and why they have made the dangerous decisions of immigrant life. “We had the hope that with a rigorous and sequential collection of first person testimonies we could create an undeniable record of the roots of the Venezuelan Refugee crisis and the experience of refugees as they fled their country,” Dr. Lyon said. “With such a record, we had the hope that others might begin to see the world, and the refugee crisis, with empathy, and develop an understanding of the root cause of displacement,” Dr. Lyon added.

According to Dr. Lyon, an estimated seven million people have fled Venezuela between 2020-2025. Having experienced the grueling life of a refugee through his wife’s own story and his work in South America, Dr. Lyon is determined to use their trials and life-threatening experiences to educate and light a flame of compassion and awareness in The Mt. Hood Villages. “As a medical doctor, much of my life has been working to know and understand the needs of my patients and their communities,” Dr. Lyon said. “I have always felt that if those that had the ability to make change at a higher level [government] and their constituents had the same understanding, we’d get closer to a better world where we are working for and pushing for the right things - both domestically and internationally,” Dr. Lyon added.

TodoSomos [a word derived from two common Spanish words, meaning ‘we are all of us brothers, sisters and refugees] was founded in 2020. The organization currently has eight members on their volunteer board of directors. Ranging in professions from journalists to engineers and medicine, the work of TodoSomos relies heavily on the work of hundreds of volunteers and their stories. “Our work in the U.S. and Colombia has been testimony collections, analysis, abstraction, radio programs, theater shows, book publishings, website creation and drafting of formal reports to the U.N. and humanitarian communities,” Dr. Lyon said.

As members of The Mt. Hood Villages continue to hear reports of different immigrant communities living in fear, seeking a better future, we seek a basic understanding of how brutal the life of a refugee can be. Perhaps these stories can inspire a change of heart with regard to how we view the world outside of our own borders. And while politics attempts to control this most serious of situations, it is the collection of stories TodoSomos has published that could, quite possibly, sway the hearts of our community for change.

“…I would like to have a stable job and not have to rely on begging on the bus. Believe me, that it is not easy when people judge and criticize you for not having a nationality like theirs and for being different,” said a young woman on a bus with her sister, asking for money. ‘Que Pass Venezuela?, page. 29 - this makes no sense

For more information on TodoSomos please visit their website at todosomos.org