Sudamérica: Venice of Peru -Belen in the Peruvian Amazon.

Iquitos is the largest city in the world that cannot be accessed by road. Belen is a poor settlement of around 70000 people that exists at the edge of Iquitos, in the floodplain of the Itaya River near its junction with the Amazon River.
Most residents of Belen are living in extreme poverty without basic amenities such as safe water, electricity or sanitation. During the wet season, river levels will rise some 6 metres, leaving Belen inundated with water giving rise to the nickname "Venice of Peru" though the similarities don't go any further. Homes in Belen are designed to float or are built on stilts to accommodate the high water from around February to July.
People there live in overcrowded conditions and, in addition to malaria, dengue fever, water-borne illnesses, respiratory illnesses, TB, and HIV, there are problems associated with severe poverty; alcoholism, crime, prostitution, unemployment, child abuse and domestic violence.

Amazon Promise
Founded to provide desperately needed medical care to remote populations living in the Upper Amazon Basin of Northeastern Peru. Their Peruvian operations are headquartered in the jungle city of Iquitos and provide medical services and education to residents of Iquitos and neighboring Belen. Additionally, since 1994 they have conducted routine, volunteer-based medical outreach, local training and education in 32 remote jungle villages.
www.amazonpromise.com/

La Restinga
An Iquitos based NGO and Belen Network member, serving the needs of children in crisis through art and education.
La Restinga takes its name from the local word for the high ground that remains when floodwaters rise.
www.larestinga.tripod.com/

Some pictures from La Restinga's Iquitos and Belen projects during November 2009