In my mid 20's I bought some land in a forest and built my own home for around $2,000. The time spent in the forest changed me forever. I lived a simple life eating fresh vegetables from the garden, bathing in front of a big open fire in a tin tub and cooking curried lentils on an old wood stove: heaven. I learned how to build by just doing it. Someone gave me an old brick house. I pulled it all down and trucked it brick by brick back to the forest and built a new house out of old materials. No mortgage, no debt of any kind. If the lentil stew kept stewing, I lived as a free man. Funnily, in the East they do the same thing. Farmers save money from their rice crop every year and with the help of a couple of neighbors build a house by themselves over 2 or 3 years. Simple 2- or 3-bedroom homes, easy to build and more than good enough for a peaceful and comfortable life, all with cash. This is a collection of photos of just that: farmers, and builders building their own homes to have a home they can afford for their families for many generations. This is one of the best wisdoms to acquire from the Hope Photo Book series: you can grow and forage your food and build your own home and not be a slave to anyone. Using just a pair of hands and an iron will there is nothing you cannot achieve.