Desaguadero, Peru The decision was as simple as it was desperate: that what they were fleeing was much worse than any dangers they might face, so Greisy Acero Duarte and her husband Jhon Navarro took the gamble. On May 28, 2021, the young couple left their hometown of Táchira in western Venezuela with their two small children, Acero's sister Milagros, and her 10-year-old son and headed south for Chile, more than 3,000 miles away.

“Sometimes our children ask for food there, and you don't have anything to give them,” Acero said. “That's why we walked out of our country with no money in our pockets.”

The family couldn’t afford passports, let alone airfare, so they hitchhiked and walked in worn-out shoes. They slept on