Amina Mohamed, founded Cameras For Girls to change the lives of girls and women in Uganda, through the power of photography.
Cameras For Girls is not just about photography – it’s about empowering women through their passion for storytelling and allowing them to share their stories with the world.
Since its inception in August 2017, Cameras For Girls has diligently taught photography and business skills to marginalized females endeavouring to become journalists in Africa. However, we realized we needed to pivot over the last 20 months under COVID. Thus, we built a robust video library, so our students could continue developing their photography and business skills instead of having the in-person training we could not deliver.
When I set out to change the lives of females in my home country, Uganda, using the power of photography, I never envisioned that we would be here three years later, after many setbacks. Being a solo founder and running this day-in and day-out gets lonely and sometimes overwhelming. But knowing the lives, I can impact in the developing world makes me work harder each day. What does it mean for a small organization to hit official status? Mainly that we can now issue tax receipts for donations.
With the work we are doing in Uganda, the hope is to change lives. By teaching photography and business skills to these young women, they can get paid work, earn an income, support themselves, their families, and their immediate communities.
We conduct an initial 3-day workshop in Kampala, Uganda with 15 young women. After I return back to Canada, I then conduct the full curriculum online, using bi-weekly zoom calls, video training, one-on-one feedback, monthly assignments and communication and assistance through a private Whatsapp and Facebook group.
Amina Mohamed, founded Cameras For Girls to change the lives of girls and women in Uganda, through the power of photography.