Life in Douala, one of the world’s most expensive cities When she lost her mother and daughter three years ago, 50-year-old Kanmegne Marie Odile moved to Douala, Cameroon’s business hub, leaving behind her home village, Kekem, in east Cameroon. By selling herbs used to treat medical illnesses, she makes about US$1 per day. She and her five children spend everything she earns. Increasingly, she finds it hard to even make that much. “Competition is fierce and customers scarce,” Kanmegne told IRIN. In the small market near her home in Bepanda, a crowded high-traffic area of Doula, she says there are always at least five women selling what she does, aloe vera plants. Divorced two years ago, Kanmegne says plant sales have not been enough to pay her US$30 monthly rent, which she says her brother-in-law pays for her. She has asked her children to help. “During their vacations from school, they sell candy in the streets. I know it’s risky because of what they are exposed to, but do you