Peter DiCampo

Life Without Lights: On!

The village of Wantugu and the gradual changes taking place, one year after the village became electrified.

Click here to view a multimedia documentary on Life Without Lights

Electrical wiring in a small shack that houses a grinding mill in Wantugu, Ghana.
   
Covered in flour, the young boy who operates a grinding mill in Wantugu takes a rest. The few electronic mills in the village run day and night, and the owners collect a small fee from each person who uses them. Before Wantugu had electricity, people used fuel-powered mills that were more expensive and less efficient.
   
A group of students huddles together to study under a light at one of their homes in Wantugu. Before the village had electricity, students complained that they had to purchase gas lanterns if they wanted to study after dark.
     
  
A storekeeper sells a local ginger drink to a customer in the center of Wantugu. Cold drinks are still a novelty in Wantugu, and storeowners say their business has doubled now that they can sell cold water, soda, and locally made drinks.
   
A group of students huddles together to study under a light at one of their homes in Wantugu.
   
Two men watch an Arnold Schwarzenegger film on one of their televisions in Wantugu. Once the village became connected to electricity, many people got their own televisions, and watching films became less of a community event.
     
  
A storekeeper pulls a cold drink out of a refrigerator in the center of Wantugu.
   
Women wait with their grains to use an electronic grinding mill in Wantugu. Not all villages in the area have electricity, so women from smaller villages walk to Wantugu to use the mill.
   
Women crowd around an electronic grinding mill operated by a young boy in Wantugu.