Benkum Art

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Wired Time

A schoolgirl in Butebo, Uganda, in a plain school dress stands seen from behind, looking at a small school building with one lit saffron window, in a field fading from charcoal to earth brown between stepped pale ash panels.

It was wired for years. Today it answers.

For years our school went dark the moment we left it. Tonight I look back from the path, the way I always do.

In early October 2026, Petete Primary School in Uganda’s Butebo District was finally connected to the national grid. The school had been fully wired but never connected. A new transformer now carries power to the classroom, the church, the town council offices and the homes around them.

One window is lit behind me. I stand on the path a moment longer.