Visit to Belen

Kelly and I were fortunate enough to visit Belen last week. This is the poorest of the poor (and the dirtiest) here in Iquitos. Above is a photo of the bathrooms in Belen. They have these little barely standng structures that sit over a ditch and the people just go right there and the waste falls into the ditch. You can see a line of them in the pic. During rainy season the Amazon floods this whole area for several months and many people have to move out or use carved canoes as transportation. Needless to say, the water is nasty, mixed with all kinds of waste (like that above).

We visited the meat market, street vendors, and animals. If we had wanted, we could have purchased an Ocelote, or a mini jaguar, for about $100 soles, or roughly $35 USD. We could have also purchased some mini-monkeys, and an array of other poorly treated animals.

Visiting this city was a reality check. We thought that Iquitos was poor, but this community makes Iquitos look very lucrative. Walking through the city makes your heart grow sick because of the sadness that you see. We are so blessed. We have a place to stay, 3 meals a day, and a loving family (22 strong). Our Father in heaven loves every single one of those people. He died on the cross for everyone. He would walk up and kiss each and every single person on the cheek. Love is not superficial. Love is deeper than one’s aesthetic appeal. We want to love as God would love, but we have so much more to grow.