Building homes in favelas.

A friend of mine mentioned to me one of the processes of the way they build homes in favelas. We were discussing the differences in the infrastructues between the slums in Rio de Janeiro, countries in Africa, and India and how each place has a unique way of maintaining the areas.

In Rio, it's not uncommon for a homeowner to build a home in a favela without windows, flooring, etc. Just the basic four walls and a roof. When a new resident wants to build a home on top of yours, you can sell your roof to him, and use that money to add windows, then floors, etc. Apparently, the homes can be built in this sort-of add-on style--- not everything needs to exist in the beginning. We were also discussing how interesting it was that the concept of being "hood-rich"-- that is, being poor but using money to feign your status by buying material things-- exists all over the world. In the slums in India, people have cell phones, TVs. In Africa, many women use their money to buy nice clothes and jewelry. (Even in the US, people who are poor still manage to have nice cars, etc.) In Rio, I'm still unclear as to how people show their status.