Jah Works, Inc.

When: July 2015
Where: Blue Hole Road, Belmont, Bluefields, Westmoreland, Jamaica
What: Roof repair, room addition, rainwater catchment system
Who: A single, unemployed father and his five children

This project benefited a single father who had recently moved to the area with his five children, to escape violence in other parts of the island. When we arrived onsite, we immediately saw the need to replace and repair the roof, so rainwater could actually be caught from it. The condition of the roof was that there were holes in it that we could see clear through up to the sky. Besides catching water, the need to not have water pouring into this home when it rained was clear.

This family of six needed a little extra space, and so we enclosed an existing room in the home by building the flooring and ensuring it was sturdy and able to be used. We also installed a 650 gallon rainwater catchment system once all the other roof repairs were in place.

During this build, we learned that a few of the older children would have to trade off whether or not they would go to school, due to a lack of funds. We didn’t expect to have any funds available after all the repairs, but amazingly, we had enough to financially help the children attend school for the coming year.