Through mentorship, storytelling, and access to tools, Cameras For Girls is empowering women and girls to reclaim their voices and rewrite Africa’s media narrative.
23-year-old Peninah Nalubega Matovu, is a final year student of Journalism and Communications at Makerere University. While studying, she’s gained valuable professional experience as a photographer, having worked with reputable organizations such as Prostat Sports Academy, Makerere University Press, and the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training (DRGT). Beyond these experiences, Nalubega is part of the Cameras For Girls Initiative in Kampala, Uganda. Founded in 2017 by Amina Mohamed a UK-born photographer living in Canada, Cameras For Girls seeks to enable women in Africa to “tell their own stories, in their own voices with dignity and truth.”
Before joining Cameras For Girls, Nalubega was an ordinary student approaching the end of my academic journey, eagerly awaiting graduation but uncertain about what lay ahead. Although she was studying Journalism and Communication, she often found herself questioning whether she truly belonged in the media industry. The thought of pursuing a career in media rarely crossed her mind, largely, she says, because of the male-dominated nature of the Ugandan media landscape. While there are women working in the field, many face significant challenges, including gender discrimination and sexual harassment, which are often overlooked and unaddressed. These realities instilled a deep sense of fear and hesitation in her, making the media feel like an unsafe and unwelcoming space. Given these realities, she began considering alternative career paths that felt less intimidating and more secure.
“Joining Cameras For Girls marked a turning point—it gave me the courage to confront those fears, reclaim my voice, and begin to see myself as someone capable of making a meaningful impact in the media world,” Nalubenga Matovu quipped.
The Founder’s Story
Amina Mohamed, the Founder and Executive Director at Cameras For Girls was born in the UK but lived in Uganda until the age of three. After that, her family moved to Canada as refugees following their expulsion by Idi Amin in 1972. Growing up a refugee in Canada, she discovered photography as a means for expression, it gave her a voice and birthed the desire to enable other women to speak through it. While in Canada, Amina says, she had access to tools and opportunities that many women in Uganda lack hence the need to fill that gap. Amina returned to Uganda first in 2007 to film a documentary and reconnect with the home she had to leave behind.
“Over the years, I kept returning, but in 2018, I met a young journalism student who told me she had never held a camera throughout her entire three-year degree. That moment shook me. As a photographer, I couldn’t imagine trying to tell stories without the basic tools. That conversation planted the seed for what would become Cameras For Girls.”
The Program’s Impact
For Nalubega, the initial stages of the mentorship program were different. “I held the assumption that women from Western countries lived vastly different lives, free from the kinds of challenges African women face—especially in the media industry. I believed they couldn’t truly relate to our struggles, and so I questioned how much value their guidance could offer. However, one particular mentorship session completely shifted my perspective. It focused on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, and the discussion was led by Amina Mohamed herself and a Ugandan woman working in media. They shared candid, painful experiences of how women are often harassed, silenced, and undermined in professional environments. At the time, their stories didn’t alarm me—I listened, but I didn’t feel personally affected. It wasn’t until a year later, when I faced a similar situation myself, that the gravity of their words truly hit me. That moment of realization made me deeply grateful for the mentorship I had received. Being guided by women who had walked the path before me, who understood the realities of the industry from both global and local perspectives, was a profound blessing. Their wisdom and honesty prepared me in ways I hadn’t appreciated at first, and I now see mentorship as a powerful tool for empowerment and survival in a challenging field.”
Getting the project off the ground for Amina wasn’t without challenges either. There was a lot of skepticism based off the fact that she was in and out of Uganda often and so earning the trust of the community she served took time. There were also challenges around logistics; shipping cameras, finding venues for the mentorship programs and trainings, as well as building local networks. Through consistency however, they were able to build credibility and hence adoption.
Cameras For Girls equips girls in Uganda with the tools to tell stories. Each beneficiary of the mentorship program receives a camera for use in telling stories, eliminating the financial burden associated with purchasing one. At the heart of the work they do, ethical storytelling drives the narrative change needed to frame African stories which have too often been told through foreign lenses.
Personal Transformation
Equipped with a camera in hand, storytelling skills in mind, Nalubega went into her community, eager to tell stories. She tells the story of a picture she took in one of the schools in her community that she considers her best yet; “In 2023, I found my niche in documenting schools within my local community—a passion project that allowed me to combine photography with storytelling in a deeply meaningful way. I would often roam around my village with my camera hanging around my neck, searching for schools to capture and stories to tell through images. One day, I was invited to visit a school where I had previously worked during my long Senior Six holiday. It was a full-circle moment for me, returning not just as a former staff member but as a visual documentarian. I took countless photographs that day, each one capturing different aspects of school life, but one image stood out above the rest and has remained close to my heart ever since. I titled it “THE SCHOOL FACE” because the eyes of the child in the photo radiated hope, pride, and quiet resilience. To me, those eyes told a story of possibility in the face of adversity. In many Ugandan villages, attending school is a privilege, not a guarantee—poverty continues to rob countless children of the opportunity to learn, leaving many Ugandans illiterate and trapped in cycles of hardship. That photograph not only symbolizes the importance of education but also evokes powerful memories of my own primary school days, reminding me of where I came from and why I continue to pursue this path. It is more than just an image—it is a reflection of dreams, determination, and the transformative power of education.”
Scaling Up
The program has supported 189 women in Uganda, with over 2000 more from across Africa the MENA region and the Indigenous community in Canada signing up to the Online Learning Hub for continuous learning. “Our year-long program includes hands-on training in photography, ethical storytelling and vital business skills. But it also includes a 6-month mentorship, and access to our Online Learning Hub, for continued learning. Many use their skills to find jobs, freelance, or build small businesses. It’s a practical path to income, not just inspiration. The 4 phases allow us to move from technical learning to real-world application. We start with a 4-day in-person workshop, then shift to assignments, mentorship, and career coaching over the year. This structure has led to an 80% success rate—our graduates are working in media, NGOs, and even government communications. We teach ethical storytelling as a core module. That means getting consent, avoiding exploitation, and portraying people with dignity. We also discuss power dynamics, representation, and trauma-informed storytelling. It’s not just what you shoot, but how and why. Many programs focus only on the photography, but we encompass storytelling, and show them the power of stories, when told with dignity and agency.”
“We’re seeing women become role models in their communities. They’re challenging gender roles, earning income, and shifting narratives. In a space where media has been male-dominated, our graduates are showing what’s possible, both behind the lens and in leadership roles.”
The program doesn’t end in Uganda. Amina hopes to reach 30000 women in 7 African countries by 2030. This, she says, will be achieved by building strong partnerships with media organizations for placements and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) for field work. “We’re moving forward by building strong partnerships, expanding our Train-the-Trainer model, and using hybrid delivery to reach more women. We’re investing in our alumni to become the next generation of trainers—creating a ripple effect that sustains quality and impact, even as we grow. It’s ambitious, but we’re committed to doing everything we can to make it happen.”
Closing Reflections
Nalubega’s story is just one among many whose lives have been transformed by the Cameras For Girls program. She hopes to pursue documentary photography and calls on other girls in her community and beyond to pursue their dreams without fear. “To the girls who doubt themselves, who feel they are not good enough or fear they won’t measure up—I would say this: Try, just try. Because the only person who can truly embrace or limit your potential is you. We often internalize the voices of doubt around us, but it’s important to remember that capability is not fixed—it grows with courage, practice, and persistence. You don’t have to be perfect to begin; you just have to begin. The media needs your voice, your perspective, and your strength. So, step forward, take the risk, and believe that you belong. Your journey starts the moment you decide to trust in your own power.”
Looking into the future, Amina hopes to leave lasting impact in the community she is building, changed perspectives across women representation in the media space and a positive contribution by the women she is training and equipping to narrative change in Africa.
“Ten years from now, I hope people can say this about Cameras For Girls; that we changed the game, not just for a few women, but for how media sees and includes women across Africa. I hope people will say that Cameras For Girls did not just train young women to take photos or write stories, we helped them build careers, claim space in male dominated industries, and challenge how narratives about Africa are created and shared.
We did not bring in outside solutions. We worked with communities, listened, adapted, and built something rooted in local context and global relevance. We created a pipeline for women to move from invisible to seen, from silenced to heard.
And most importantly, we built dignity into every step, dignity in the way stories are told, in how our students are treated, and in the futures they are now creating for themselves. I hope they will say we did not just create a program, we created a movement that made space for women to lead, to document, and to redefine what representation truly means.”
The journeys of Peninah Nalubega Matovu and the countless other women empowered by Cameras For Girls are not just success stories—they are a resounding declaration that the narrative of African women is being permanently rewritten. In a world where media too often silences or misrepresents, this initiative is a vital pipeline of dignified voices, transforming personal fear into collective force.
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My goal is to feature leaders and trailblazers who like Amina are stepping up, changing narratives, redefining dignity, truth, and power, one courageous story at a time. Reach out via: Stories@yegonemmanuel.com
