Mountain View

Mountain View is one of the informal settlements of Ocean View. There are only two informal settlements, the rasta camp and mountain view. To be "informal" means you either don't have indoor plumbing or electricity. The rasta's have neither, they have chosen to go into the hills and build houses and live in community with one another. The people of mountain view live in old strip style buildings that were once part of the navy I believe. They have electricity, but no indoor plumbing. The yellow building,in the photo, is the bathroom facility as well as where they get their water. Most houses are either 2 rooms or four. There are also, what is known, as back yard dwellers who have built Wendy houses (small wooden sheds).

Currently, they are building new government houses next to mountain view. I think around 300  homes in total. This is a one of a kind project in that the builders are using almost all local workers for the labor. There are skilled supervisors, but the workers are mostly untrained locals.  Working in this environment has raised some unique problems on the job site. Prostitution, drug use, etc are some things they are learning to deal with. However, instead of scratching the project and just getting skilled labor, they are asking local NGO's (nonprofits) for help to deal with these issues. Every morning now starts out with a devotion and we have free reign to come onto the job site and chat with the workers. They have also set a place where workers can have counseling as well as a  hired community liaison to assist with social issues.  Another cool aspect of the job is that there were mountains of rock and sand created when they first leveled and cleared the site. Teams are now literally digging through these mountains to recycle these resources. Sand for the mortar, small rocks for fill, and bigger rocks for the front of the buildings (see photo).

Please join us in praying for the people of mountain view.  Tic (a cheap form of crystal meth) use is rampant. Last week we were told of 4 different cases of children raping children. Pray for chains to be broken and strongholds to be torn down. Also pray for this job project, as it will help empower the local people. Rumor has it, it will take 3 years too complete and workers will get trade certificates that will help them to find work long after the project is finished.