WESTERN BUREAU:

WHEN GARY WAS considering building a house, he immediately thought about doing it the old-fashioned way - with his own hands.

He lived in a board dwelling - a sagging board dwelling - and knew that despite tough economic times he had to make a move. He had some money saved up from his job as a taxi driver and his wife had just received a promotion at her job in Twickenham Park, St. Catherine.

Their eldest child was 17, would soon be out of high school, but all had decided that he needed to work for two years before going on to tertiary education.

So the 37-year-old did up his costs - minus labour. He did not plan to hire anyone at all, as there were many willing and able hands at his disposal, all for free.

"I could do a lot for myself, because I went to a technical high school," Gary said. Hence, he was able to not only do the plumbing and electrical work all by himself, but also supervise the entire project, his job as a taxi driver giving him the flexibility in time required to keep a close eye on things.

Other's projects

Of course, it was not only an eye, as he was right there carrying buckets and blocks, along with everyone else.

'Everyone else' was a band of volunteers, who know that they are contributing to a pool of labour from which they will draw one day. In fact, some of them already have. Under their informal, unwritten but still very binding agreement, they give their labour free to each other's projects, expecting nothing but a meal each time in return.

In fact, sometimes they all contribute to the pot.

"Is jus a ting," Allan, who is in his early 30s, said. "De whole a we cyaan come one time, but we chip een an like pon a Saturday everbady gada an we mek a push."

Over two years, the volunteer labour has yielded a house with a basement, ground floor and upper level, with only the upper floor not yet inhabitable. There is a plastic water tank on the roof, part of which has been slabbed for that purpose, while there is blue tiling on the other section. There are no windows either, although all the spaces are in place.

The family lives in the lower sections of the house, which are complete with ceramic tiles and a water heater. There is also another amenity which is close to Gary's heart.

In the basement there is a central music system, with speakers in all rooms of the house.

"I just love this part," Gary said, smiling and putting on a Barry Manilow CD.

He has not put an estimate on the dollar value of the labour that has been put in for free, but he knows that were it not for his friends he would still be living in the sagging board dwelling. He also knows that he will be helping to build similar structures in turn, as well as providing transportation for their material as much as his taxi work will allow.