Ghanaians devise mechanisms to deal with the harmattan

The harmattan season has pushed many Ghanaians to adopt innovative methods to manage the weather with the wearing of heavy clothing, applying body moisturisers, and reducing the intake of chilled water and beverage.

Ms Evelyn Norvi Tualli, a student of the University of Professional Studies, Accra told the Ghana News Agency that the unfriendly weather condition associated with the coldness and dryness was worrying.

She said, as a preventive measure from catching a cold, which had the tendency of distracting her studies, she had decided not to take chilled liquids and also apply Shea butter to her body to avoid dryness and cracks.

Ms Edem Sedoameda, a student of the IPMC College of Technology, said the harmattan has brought intense coldness, dryness and lots of dust into the system making breathing very uncomfortable.

Ms Sedoameda said she had been managing the weather condition by applying oily pomade, wearing long and thick clothing to avoid any form of affliction that might come with the weather.

Meanwhile, Mr Mawuli Nuekpe, a French Teacher at Jesus and Mary School at Nima, said the weather was a very bad, “I’m currently suffering from a sore throat and that is making me feel uncomfortable”.

As a preventive measure, Mr Nuekpe said he was going to the pharmacy to buy some medication to treat the sore throat.

The harmattan is a season where a hot, dry wind blows from the north-east or east of the Sahara usually carrying large amounts of dust transported during December through to February.

This year, it is heightened in the late December in the country which had been characterised by cloudy atmosphere especially during the mornings and evenings.