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His name is Al Shaer, he is 36 years old and lives in Gaza. He was impressed with the houses in Bangladesh when he visited that country in the 1990s. Later, when he had to look out for a house for his family comprising his wife, four daughters and infant son, he decided to follow the age-old tradition of constructing a mud house because he did not have enough money to go in for traditional ones. He used a shoe box as a mould from which he prepared the bricks by mixing mud with corn husk straw and water and allowing them to dry in the sun for three days. In the meantime, he built a wooden frame for the roof and, once the bricks were dry and ready, he constructed his house himself. It was several times cheaper than a house using conventional materials. He now relaxes on his palm lined verandah and watches in admiration his garden where he has grown water melons, and tomatoes.