The Peru Children's Trust.

The Trust helps to rescue children who are on the brink of becoming street children, often malnourished, from broken families - some with no identity at all, and many who have no prospects or aid from anywhere.

The Peru Children's Trust is an independent Christian charity, formed in the UK in 1997, to assist extremely poor orphans, children and families in Peru, whose circumstances have been affected by the economy and the catastrophic effects of years of civil war.

The charity is small but aims to have a close personal relationship with the children and the families it supports. It operates currently in Huancayo, Peru, in shantytowns, poor areas of the city in Peru with a population of 500,000. It is at 11,000 ft above sea level, high in the Andes Mountains just south of the equator on the river Mantaro, one of the tributaries of the Amazon. Fifty percent of the population is under 18 years of age. Children need help because there is no government assistance - no benefits and no health service. Unemployment is so high that children are forced to work from a very early age. If they cannot find casual labour, they steal or else starve. Many children are orphans from the civil war, or with mothers that have been abandoned, and are illiterate, without work.

This work was started by a small group of evangelical believers in 1992. They and other administrative assistants manage the Trust in Peru. They select the children, assess their needs, organise the purchase of requirements, and regularly monitor their progress. No money is given directly to children or to the parents.