Surviving the Heat Wave in Douala

Inhabitants of the economic capital, Douala, have developed survival tactics to cope with the current heat wave rocking the metropolis. As the saying goes; one man’s misfortune is another man’s fortune. The heat wave has triggered a hike in the business of air cooling apparatus like air conditioners and fans. Owing to the fact that at the peak of the heat fans blow warm air, a new brand of fans are coming up which use water and can blow cool air even in the midst of the heat. This is the choicest fan now for those who are not rich enough to afford an air conditioner.

The heat is also causing a boom in the sale of water by the roadsides and other body cooling items like yogurts, ice cream, ‘folere’, Ginger and so on hawked around the streets of the economic capital. A case in point is around the Brasseries brewery plant where youths propose water in bottles and sachets to motorists and passersby alike. At the peak of the heat, people in offices with air conditioners limit their movement outside while those who cannot afford, put the fan at top speed or better still look for shelter under a roof or a tree for those in the quarters. In the evenings, people sit outside of their houses for as long as possible to enjoy the cooling effect of the wind and only go into the house to sleep at ...