I don't think you have any understanding of how quickly a human will die in a wet bulb event. AC is, by the actual definition of 'literally', literally more important to sustaining human life than FOOD is, on wet bulb days.
And FOOD cost less than a dollar per day in those places. An AC, including electricity, and assuming their house is airtight enough to keep the cold, costs the same as 20 years worth of food.