It was the house of his dreams – a small wooden home with a 15-foot ceiling, a corrugated iron roof and sturdy cement steps leading inside – and U Aung Kyin, a 57-year-old farmer with seven acres of land, had planned for a lifetime to build it.

The wood came from trees planted when his son was born 30 years before. The $1,400 (€990, £852) for the carpenter’s fees, roof and other materials was saved from sales of the fruit from his 100 banana trees. When he finally moved in last year, after decades living in flimsy bamboo and thatch structures, U Aung Kyin felt like a king.