Belen Clinic
Thanks to a grant of £37,000 from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and additional support from you our supporters, the centre was officially opened in 2005.
The health centre is located in the shanty town of Puerto Belen, Iquitos and is part of the Medical Project employing a full time doctor, a dentist and nursing staff. Serving the people who live in the most impoverished parts of Belen in floating houses and 'pole houses' built above the flood plane of the Itaya river (around 30,000 people), the centre will offer a free medical facility to some of the poorest people of Iquitos.
The clinic also has a large meeting area where a homework class and 'soup kitchen' will operate five days a week providing support to some 70 of the poorest single parent families. A local group of volunteer mums take turns in preparing the meal for the children.
“The design and build quality of the medical center stands in stark contrast to the surrounding ramshackle buildings. I believe this will be a monumental structure to the community offering not just real and practical care - but by it's very presence showing that the rest of the world does value their lives”
Iain Ballantyne - Engineer Oracle Corporation
Video Clip: Taken from a Granda Reports Documentary with presenter Paul Crone...