In Iraqi Homes, A Constant Battle Just to Stay Cool (energy rationing)

[Barrett808]

In Iraqi Homes, A Constant Battle Just to Stay Cool
Energy Rationing Prompts Rudimentary Alternatives
By Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, July 28, 2004; Page A01

BAGHDAD, July 27 -- In the oppressive swelter of the Iraqi summer, where temperatures reach 110 degrees by morning rush hour, life in thousands of run-down apartments and shops in this once-modern capital revolves around a primitive routine for heat survival.

This is the second summer since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and people here widely expected power to be restored by now. Instead, the city's electricity shuts off four or five times a day under a government energy-rationing scheme while officials struggle to revive a power system ravaged by war, vandalism and years of neglect.

When the lights die and the air stops moving, Thakaa Abrar, 45, picks up a newspaper and begins fanning her husband, a customs worker bedridden by a stroke. Her refrigerator is almost empty, a precaution against spoilage, and she will buy only enough food to cook for supper.

Her daughter Duniya, 21, fills dozens of soft drink bottles with water, ready to pour into an ancient cooler that pushes air through a filter of wet wood shavings. Even at night, someone must get up every 15 minutes to empty another bottle into the contraption.

"This is no way for a family to live. We are tired. Everyone is tired, because it is impossible to sleep," said Abrar, offering visitors a tray of warm soft drinks in her cramped apartment. "We could never afford to buy a generator. When the pipes break, I have to beg for water in the shops. And with all this terrorism, I can't even let my daughters go out for ice cream."

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19423-2004Jul27.html