A 31 YEAR OLD MAN LEFT HIS HOMETOWE WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND LEAVING BEHIND CHILDREN TO FIND A BETTER LIFE.

 Jaime Aguilera Sierra, left, and his girlfriend, Graydelis Rivero, snapped this picture in Ecuador before starting their long trek to the USA. They are two of 4,500 Cubans stranded in Costa Rica, blocked by Central American governments from continuing their journey north.

 The 31-year-old left his hometown of Holguín, Cuba, this year and moved to Quito, Ecuador, with his girlfriend. They both had children in Cuba but left them behind to try to find a better life.

 They left Ecuador just after sunset Nov. 9 in a group of 12 Cubans and started what Aguilera calls the most difficult trek of his life.

 Along the way, they were captured in Colombia and held for ransom, paid bribes along the road, crossed a river teeming with human waste, ran straight into an electrified fence and saw people bloodied and bruised at every turn. They've ridden in buses, vans and boats, spent nights sleeping in horrendous conditions and at one point were left with a total of two U.S. dollar bills

 With no idea how they'll continue their journey to the USA, Aguilera said he's losing hope.

 "To those in Cuba who are considering this, I would say don't do it this way," he said. "The stories I heard about this trip were ugly, but the reality has been far worse. If I would've imagined even half of what we've experienced, I wouldn't have done it."