The residents there have just begun the process of acquiring and building. It is home to about 30,000 people, said Leo Samaniego, River Ministry coordinator for El Paso Baptist Association. Though not far in distance from Montana Vista, the economic conditions of the two colonias are a world apart. The pavement on the street ends before you get to Anapra. The smell of dust hangs thick in the air.
Dogs wander along the scraped-out streets.
Electric lines are strung on poles, and wires dangle from clusters of makeshift connections providing power to individual homes. It comes in trucks, with residents paying to have cisterns filled. Some buy bottled water for drinking. Some drink contaminated water. The process of growth in Anapra happens similarly to the colonias on the Texas side of the river, but the standards are much lower.