The sounds of children playing, smiling faces and laughter. But if you look closely, you can see the worry. 

Among the caravans from Central America trying to get into the United States, there are many women and small children.

We spoke with one woman who literally traveled thousands of miles and now wants to return to Central America.

Maria says her purpose was to cross into the United States to give her children a better future. She traveled with her daughter who is just 19 months old. 

She says the children suffer as much as the parents.

Another woman named Ingrid tells us the hardest part was sleeping, they frequently slept on top of rocks, on streets, or in parks.

For now, they're able to sleep in a shelter for women and children. Instituto Madre Asunto houses women and children in Tijuana, Mexico. It's a place where families can rest their heads, eat, and wash their clothes.

"It's really hard for me to see something like that because I'm the daughter of immigrants," said Jocelyn Duarte, interim executive director of the Salvadorean Leadership and Educational Fund. 

The fund is one of the groups that came to Tijuana to help people within the caravan, bringing donations and offering advice on the asylum process.

"I think the best thing that we can do at this time is educate people, give them an orientation of what the asylum process is, de-mystify that process for them so they are making well-informed decisions about whether they are going to stay in Tijuana or they will continue their journey on," says Duarte.

For Maria, even though she traveled more than 2,700 miles, she's choosing to go home.

She has asked authorities to deport her back to El Salvador.

She found out she was pregnant and says she can't take care of two children alone, even if she did make it into the U.S.