Benkum Art

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Still Turning

A woman in an indigo blouse and a brown-and-cream lappa sits behind a wooden tray of red scotch bonnet peppers in three heaps, her right hand holding a single pepper still green near the stem just above the centre heap, her left hand resting on the tray.

Everything on the tray is ready except the one in my hand.

The pepper has been between my fingers longer than it takes to set one down. The rest of the heap is already red.

On September 15, 2026, in Monrovia, FAWE Liberia inducted the National Recruitment Committee for a Mastercard Foundation-backed program that targets 650 marginalized young women and men in ten counties for university and vocational training. Persons with disabilities, refugees and displaced people get priority. “For some, this bursary may be the difference between going to university and staying at home,” says its executive director, Millias Z. Sheriff.

This one is still green near the stem. I haven’t put it down.