tonight the story of two mothers. pushed to the unthinkable. their only hope to save their two families is leaving them behind. matt inside the biggest forced migration in the western hemisphere. >> they carry what they can. >> those most precious, like their food, children, blankets. >> millions flee starvation, poverty, and chaos in venezuela. the future for so many. uncertain. exodus, a mother's journey, will be right back.

♪ ♪ connecting people... ...uniting the world. ♪♪

exodus, a mornether's journ, continues. >> this is the moment that karen has long been dreading. packing to leave her home country, venezuela, knowing she might never return. >> steeling herself to say

goodbye to the husband she's loved for over 20 years. every glance, every touch, treasured. >> karen's family is being torn apart by one of the worst economic crises in the world. the family has heard that women are more likely to find a job in a different country. so with just over $200 in her pocket, karen has made the painful decision to go first. >> karen, a registered nurse, is

one of over 3 million people who has fled venezuela. it is the largest displacement in the history of the western hemisphere. the journey often by foot, crossing rivers, liking through mountain passes. most heading up here on this bridge. >> this stream of humanity floods out of venezuela. washes into colombia on this side. they carry what they can. those that are most precious like their children, some food, some blankets. >> once a rich country, awash in oil money, now country is in free fall. it has led to complete chaos. the fingers of blame are pointed directly at venezuela's leaders, starting with hugo chavez and worsening under his successor. and any dissent is met with an iron fist. the country's leader unleashing his security forces on anyone

who dares speak up. more than 120 protesters dying from clashes last year. >> much needed medicine growing increasingly scarce. for food, people wait for hours in government lines. fighting over whatever morsels might be left. as the people suffer, the leaders denying there's even a crisis. these days, most venezuelans are now too tired, too hungry, too sick to fight government. some even forced to eat out of the trash. here, starvation doesn't discriminate. vanessa and her husband adolfo

were once solidly middle class. they had a car, went on caribbean vacations. now the clothes they once wore in pride to work are now merciless in hunger. when we first met them in the fall of 2016, they were already making sacrifices to survive. both teachers, they could no longer afford their car. hitchhiking just to get to work. vanessa told some of her students had fainted from hunger. when the food began to vanish, so did vanessa's students.

the upturned chairs on the desks, an unofficial roll call. it is not just the students. >> at home, vanessa and her husband would alternate eating din order different nights to make sure their son ate every day. a sprinkle of cheese brought a smile to his face. >> but now two years later, vanessa tells us they can't afford to buy that cheese anymore. she now works two full time jobs and takes weekend work to help her family. with inflation expected to reach 1.3 million% this year, food

itself is often the best form of payment. the middle class life she once knew, now a distant memory. >> for so many mothers, the burden of building a future elsewhere now rests on their shoulders. when we come back, we search for that one mother on her journey to find a better life. and we travel to a purgatory where we meet other women sacrificing everything just to keep their children alive. stay with us.

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ this special edition of "nightline," exodus, a mother's journey, continues.

>> they are fleeing by the millions. all of them escaping venezuela. a place once oozing oil money, now a country in chaos. many of these people used to be solidly middle class. not all of them. what is most stunning about the mass xoed us from venezuela right now is the fall from grace. triggering one of the largest migration flows in the region's history. with food scarce and money practically worthless, many are leaving just for a chance to survive. and it is a sea of people. we are looking for one mother. >> this is the famous bridge that connects colombia on this side to venezuela on the other side. right now we're about the meet karen who is a nurse from a town of valencia, a couple hours outside of caracas. we've kept up with her for a year following her as she left her home

but colome is not her final stop. as she waits in line to get her passport stamped, reality starts to sink in. she is hoping if she makes to it peru, she'll land a job and make enough money to send some home. but it will take her another several days by bus just to get there. it's incredible, the mothers on this bus, everybody, everyone has everything they can pack that they feel they can take with them and they're leaving their country. this is part of the exodus. and there is no guarantee she'll

even be allowed in. in peru, where on average convenie venezuelans cross each day. the deluge overwhelming so many of the surrounding countries. ecuador and brazil declaring states of emergency. and at that brazilian border, violence. migrant encampments attacked by angry residents. cheer as they are forced back across the border. but as the gateaway company, colombia has born the brunt of it. here more than a million venezuelians are taken in. police roam the streets, cracking down on convenient

venezuelans. those without passports are deported back. the streets surrounding the bridge are known as the stop. it is now a no man's land for those who have just left venezuela. stuck in limbo. the money they saved was just enough to get them here. women even willing to sell their hair for just a few dollars. wow, those are purses made of venezuelan money. >> throws $50 bills. it shows you how cheap the currency is. that the paper has more value than the currency. much of the humanitarian burden has fallen on churches and religious groups. like this food pantry. one of the largest in the area. the need for people, this soup

kitchen that used to feed several hundred people a day now feeds 1,500 people every meal. it is only the women and children and elderly are fed. men are turned away. there's no room for them. here they get a sense of home. it may look chaotic but it is actually pretty organized. with rice, beans and meat. this is the heartiest meal these people will eat all day. the setting sun reveals even deeper desperation. in the streets, we find the red light district now dominated by young venezuelan mothers. they are offering their bodies for a few dollars a night. sarah and natasha are willing to talk to us as long as we don't show their faces. did you ever think you would be doing this? prostituting yourselves on the streets of colombia? in a month they say they earn

about $40. but it is still more than what they could have provided to their children if they had stayed in venezuela. >> so they're doing it for their kids. it is now a city filled with mothers making desperate choices. the situation is so severe, that they've traveled here just to seek medical care for their children. all the children are offered free vaccinations because of venezuela. there are no vaccinations and the colombian government is not allowing people in with diseases they haven't seen before. it is estimated that over a million children remain unvaccinated in venezuela. at the general hospital at times, nearly half of their patients are venezuelan.

many are pregnant. three floors up, the doctor shows us the pediatric ward. it is brimming with sick kids. many underweight and suffering complications from malnutrition. children like this one, just under 2 years old, his skin sunken. aged from starvation. last christmas consumed by illness, he started wasting away before her eyes. out of options, she decided to leave venezuela to get them care she needed. all while four months pregnant. >> it is hard to believe he was about nine pounds and now he is 13 pounds. it is amazing that he could have been much smaller than he was

now a month ago. shocking. if you didn't bring him here to colombia, what do you think would have happened to him? her heart is torn. she had to leave her other son and her family in venezuela. she has to go back. she has her son and her mom and her family. when he gets better, she's going back. >> he is still not even able to lift his own head or even keep his eyes open. yet he is better off than many. for karen and others who made it out, there is reason to hope. but millions are still shackled to venezuela by poverty like vanessa who says she, too, must

go. this special edition of "nightline" is sponsored by macy's. macy's.

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