Border closure forces Venezuelan kids to make perilous treks

SUMMARY

An estimated 3,200 Venezuelan schoolchildren cross the border to attend school in Colombia, where many parents believe they will get a better quality education, not to mention at least one meal, sometimes the only one they'll get in a day. Crossing hand-in-hand, the students stand out in their plaid uniforms and knee-high socks amid the swell of people carrying bundles of goods like rice and toilet paper and suitcases with their life's belongings. The closure of Venezuela's border with Colombia is exacting a heavy toll on the thousands who have grown to rely on the neighboring Andean nation for everything from chemotherapy to food as their homeland's humanitarian crisis worsens.

By APMar 7, 2019 10:58:24 AM IST (Published)

Venezuelans cross illegally into Colombia near the Simon Bolivar International Bridge, which Venezuelan authorities continue to keep closed, in La Parada near Cucuta. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Venezuelan students ride on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia from Venezuela. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Venezuelans students stand on the banks of the Tachira River. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Venezuelan students ride on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A volunteer gives a Venezuelan student a piggyback ride across the Tachira River into Colombia. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Venezuelan students ride on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Venezuelan students walk into Colombia from Venezuela along the Tachira River. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

A Venezuelan student rides on a wooden raft to cross the Tachira River into Colombia. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)