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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Eromo Egbejule in Abidjan

‘Now you can have rest in your home’: the mirror roofs cooling homes in Freetown

Freetown, Sierra Leone
In 1990, Freetown was home to 529,000 people but its population has since swelled to about 1.3 million. Photograph: Misper Apawu/AP

Mohamed Koroma has lived in the Kroo Bay waterfront community in Freetown for more than 50 years but cannot remember a time when the weather has been as hot as it was in the first few months of 2024. In that period, he and many others in the Sierra Leonean capital had to cool down in their baths and sleep on their verandas.

“Those that can afford to, they bought electric fans,” said the unemployed 61-year-old. “Those who cannot afford [them] you just leave your body like that.”

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