Colégio Kairos an education and community development initiative of Help One Now - provides quality education to more than 450 children in Iquitos, Perú. It is also a community hub, investing in future generations through education and development.

The Reality

IQUITOS.  Gateway to the Amazon.  This city of nearly 600,000 people in the vast Loreto region of Perú, is a mix of both ancient and modern.  Isolated and mysterious, there are no roads that lead to Iquitos.  One can only arrive by plane or by ferryboat.

This is the city in which Help One Now has recently launched a partnership with Kairos Ministries to educate vulnerable children and break cycles of extreme poverty in South America.

Iquitos is a growing city, teeming with life, culture and opportunity for some.  Yet it is also home to more than it's share of extreme poverty.  Nearly 30% of its population lives in a township called Belén, which lies in the Amazon riverbed, where the land gives way to water more than half the year.  Houses are either built on stilts or built to float with the rising river.  The land is free because it's not really land; hence, Belén is home to those on the fringes both economically and socially.  Some live there because they have no choice, and some choose to live there to skirt the laws and norms of civil society.

Many of these one-room houses are home to large extended families, or even multiple families.  Most parents are forced to work long hours to make ends meet, leaving small children at home.  All of this mixed with alcohol and isolation is a recipe for abuse, sexual exploitation, and disease.

Our goal in the short-term is to gain 100 child sponsorships for vulnerable children who attend Kairos Schools. This will allow the schools to improve their facilities, services and staff, and aid in the development of a trade school for those transitioning into the next phase of life. In the long-term, we hope to walk alongside Mercedes Malpartida, leader of Kairos Ministries, and explore the possibilities of rescuing and restoring abused women and children in Iquitos. Mercedes has a big vision for the future…as the church grows and the schools begin to thrive, she wants to provide a refuge, a safe house, for abused children and young women.