RTS2ITAV
19 Jun. 2019
Tumbes, Peru
Venezuelan migrant Iris Mejias, 68, poses for a picture with her granddaughter Victoria, 10, while they rest at the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border service centre, before continuing their journey to Lima, on the outskirts of Tumbes, Peru, June 15, 2019. Mejias, a nurse with more than 40 years of professional experience, was diagnosed with cancer a few months after her daughter and son-in-law left Venezuela to go to work in Peru, leaving their children under her care. "After having surgery, I have not been able to get chemotherapy because we do not have access to medicines." "I am disappointed that my old age has been stolen. I have worked for over 40 years, but today my salary and pension is not enough to buy food for a week". "I'm doing this trip to bring Victoria to her mother because how would a ten-year-old girl cope when her grandmother, who has been like her mother, dies and suddenly she has no one. How could I leave this girl in limbo?". "I am forced to leave. I have no alternative." Victoria's two older siblings stayed in Venezuela and are completing their studies. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins SEARCH "MOTHERS REFUGEE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES.
