ALJAZEERA: Venezuelan students use risky crossings to get to Colombia school →

Cucuta, Colombia - Cielo leaves her home in Venezuela at 04:30am every day to get to school in Colombia.

For two years now, the 11-year-old student has been crossing into Colombia using the Simon Bolivar footbridge for access to education as many teachers in her homeland have migrated or refuse to work for the little money the Venezuelan government can pay them since the country's economic crisis began in 2015.

Armed groups control the unofficial border crossings, known as 'trochas' [Steven Grattan/Al Jazeera]