When disaster hits any community it seems to be compounded when the community is a poor place to begin with. Last week a fire devastated the sector in Belen where the Vine Trust has been working for the past ten years. 150 families have been left homeless. TheTrust has set up an emergency appeal. you can read about it at www.vinetrust.org

Belen which means Bethlehem, is a shanty town built on he edge of a sewer. The houses are built on stilts to compensate for the rainy season where the water table can rise over 10 feet. The houses are built close to each other,just like London before the great fire of 1660.

Most people in this community have no running water, so they wash and cook from the contaminated water supply. You can imagine life expectancy in this shanty town is short. The Vine Trust is seeking to partner others who will work with us to help solve the issue of clean water. To date no ideal solutions have been found.

Please pray for the work we do in this community and that we will develop partnerships with other agency who are seeking to bring order and advancement to the community of Belen.