Why the Venezuelan migrant crisis should matter to you
This semester, I had the the humbling opportunity to travel to Medellín, Colombia, in March to tell the stories of Venezuelan migrants who have left everything to seek better lives in another country. The people we met over our ten days were so warm and welcoming and above all, they remained hopeful that the would one day see their country again. I was truly touched and inspired by their optimism and hope.
It might feel like the problems that Venezuelans are facing right now have nothing to do with your own lives. You may think, I’m not living in South America or I don’t have anyone personally affected by this crisis, but that’s the wrong way to think about this issue. We need to start thinking about this issue in terms of humans.
During the semester, my class of 26 young journalists worked long hours and sleepless nights to tell five unique stories of humans who have lived this nightmare. Uprooted: The Faces of the Venezuelan Crisis is a multimedia project by the School of Media and Journalism as part of MEJO 584: International Projects. We wanted to be as faithful to our subjects as possible, and give them a space to tell their stories — no judgement, no comment — just the raw power of storytelling.
For me, that’s what motivates me. Even when everything seems to hard to handle, I know there is power in storytelling. It’s why we continually go to the theaters to watch the latest blockbuster by Disney. Storytelling allows us to empathize better with others, and it gives us a way to think about issues in a different way.
Sadly, the stories that most people get about the Venezuelan crisis are politically focused. Headlines tout the names of President Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó. The stories are always about macroissues of inflation and hunger and power outages. While these stories are important to report on, they sometimes desensitize us from actually caring about the people who live in Venezuela.
It’s so easy to brush off statistics. It’s much harder to brush off the faces of children who aren’t in school because their family can’t afford to send them. It’s easy to blame bad government policy as the root of problems. It’s hard to ignore a group of adults who live in a tiny one-bed room just so they don’t have to sleep on the streets. It’s easy to be apathetic. It’s hard to care.
And we need to care. We need to start showing the lives of the people who are being affected by this crisis. We shouldn’t be silent. We should be loud, we should take action and we should show love to others. Even if we don’t speak the same language or have the same beliefs, every person deserves to be treated with dignity.
I am so grateful for the people who took the time out of their busy lives to care. For every person who attended the premiere, or visited the website, or donated items for the personal hygiene drive, thank you. Even if you feel like your impact was minimal, thank you for caring and for showing your support.
See photos I took while in Colombia. Listen to my friend Amy and I talk about our experiences here.
