‘The hotter the summer is, the colder the winter is. It’s not normal. I can feel the effect of climate change’

Aibiike is a fourth-year journalism student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia pursuing journalism and new media studies. Originally from Kyrgyzstan, she came to Kamloops when she was 17 with an ambition to become a journalist. She’s now the sports editor at The Omega, the university’s student newspaper, and enjoys reading fiction and spending time with her friends. Aibiike also manages He Brews Ahava Coffee Inc., a family-owned café in downtown Kamloops where she first started working as a summer barista two years ago. That’s where she was during the July 2024 heat wave.

I clearly remember Canada Day in Kamloops. At first it was a regular day. I had my work as a barista at He Brews coffee shop, and, as I was taking the bus down from the Upper Sahali, the weather that day appeared to be very sunny. However, the view wasn’t clear because of the Interior wildfire smoke coming in. It was also really hot! At approximately 12 p.m. I was making drinks and serving customers at the He Brews. Despite the working AC, I started noticing that I felt like I was melting. 

I somehow got through an eight-hour shift. My friend, who manages the concession a couple blocks away, at Riverside Park, needed some help down there.  She asked me if I could cover a shift from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. My job was to simply stand there and assist customers, who would like to rent a kayak or buy some water or ice cream. I remember people around me talking about the day being the hottest day in the history of Kamloops. However, I didn’t fully realize how hot it was until I was walking from the coffee shop to the park. 

I remember thinking how different the summers felt here in Canada compared to back home in Kyrgyzstan. Back home, the mornings start cool, and the heat builds up throughout the day, then starts to cool down at around noon. But in Canada, it just seemed to be constantly hot up until 4 p.m., when it felt like the worst of it hit.

By the time I finally made it to the concession, which is about a seven minute walk, I was drained, physically, and mentally. When I was leaving the coffee shop, I filled one of those nice water bottles that are supposed to keep your drinks cold with ice and water. The ice fully melted. The worst part is the water pump in the park wasn’t working. You couldn’t even get water.

I was lucky enough to be working in the concession, so I could grab water from the fridge. But I couldn’t help but think about the others in the park, people who didn’t have that same access to something as basic as cold water. Customers would buy tons of water and ice cream. The riverside beach was very crowded as people were trying to find ways to cool down even a little bit. You could feel a riverside breeze sneaking in from time to time.

The day couldn’t get any worse. However, along with me fighting the heat, I got very irritated by some middle-aged white males that came not to use a service but to mess around and ask, “Are you hot in here?” or “You can dip in the water.”

The day changed my whole view on climate change. I’ve always been aware of it, always knew it was affecting us, but this summer felt like a real wake-up call. And it’s not just the heat. The winters have been strange too. I realized that the hotter the summer is, the colder the winter is. It’s not something normal. 

What gives me hope for the future is the idea that we could do something, even if it’s small steps. I hope the City of Kamloops makes changes and is going to do something about water dispensers in public places, because I think that water is the most basic necessity out there in the world. If something as simple as more water stations were available, it could make a huge difference on days like this.

This story is a part of a series created by Thompson Rivers University students and led by instructor Jennifer Chrumka as part of the Climate Disaster Project.