One inspiration was Alexander Saunder's op-ed piece in the New
York Times about helping victims of a 2005 earthquake in
Pakistan. His piece "Give Them Shelter" suggested buying garden
sheds from Sam's Club en mass and dropping them into isolated
regions. It is an interesting idea. We also used several sites
dedicated to a "Tiny House" movement, which we first saw in a
local piece "Stuck in Vermont". Tiny houses are houses about
ten-feet by ten-feet and intended to be lived in (windows, loft
beds, water and the like). There are many other sites dedicated
to the movement. This movement, in turn, was inspired by Thoreau
and Walden, which we read excerpts from. Many of these sources
stressed simplicity and self-reliance. They also dovetailed with
groups looking to solve the problems of homelessness and the
environment. There are several Instructables that will support
this project, but "Pallet Playhouse" is mentioned several times
in the article as it has excellent information on deconstructing
pallets and using