Farfrompuken hits the nail on the head! The British have an ingrained trait that begs the statement....."Anyone can be miserable!" I have seen the "muddle through", "oh...this isn't so bad!", "lick upper stiff...I mean stiff upper lip" thing since becoming associated with them. They, as a race of people, find it absolutely impossible to reach for a better standard of living. I have been in bush camps in Iran during the winter without the first parafin heater...no hot water for bathes...lived in staff houses that Ethiopian refugees would have been uncomfortable in....eaten food that would bore a Tibetan goat herder...but as long as they can get snotty assed drunk at night then things are good enough. In Somalia, even when given air conditioners and American rations, did not hook up the aircons and had the unmitigated gall to complain about the quality of the blackberry cobbler! They stood there with sweat running down their noses....swatting at flies...and said..."oh...this isn't so bad!"
A suggestion to you where the US Air Force have the space age tents....enviromental laws forbid the return of that kind of material to the United States....work a deal with the Air Force guys....it will be easier for them to donate them to you than decontaminate and cleanse the equipment prior to shipping it back to the US. That is how we got the swimming pool and huge aircon for the beer tent in Somalia. Be innovative and aggressive about bettering your living conditions....it can be done.