Interview with Amina Mohamed, Founder & Executive Director, Cameras for Girls, Canada

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CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHTS:

Photography as a Pathway: Amina Mohamed’s Mission for Economic Empowerment for girls and women in Uganda and beyond.

In this episode of YouMeWe Amplified Podcast, host Suzanne F. Stevens converses with Amina Mohamed, the founder of Cameras for Girls, a program aiming to empower women and girls in Uganda and across Africa by teaching them photography, journalism, and business skills. Amina shares her journey from Canada to Uganda, shedding light on the gender disparities and the inspiration behind starting Cameras for Girls. The initiative not only fosters economic empowerment and gender equality but also provides participants with practical skills for career advancement in journalism and photography, boasting a 75% success rate in securing full-time jobs for its graduates. Amina discusses fundraising challenges, ethical photography’s importance, and the overall impact of investing in women’s empowerment.

00:00 Welcome to YouMeWe Amplified Podcast: Empowering Women Through Photography

01:01 Introducing Amina Mohamed: The Force Behind Cameras For Girls

03:21 Amina’s Journey: From Canada to Empowering Uganda’s Women

05:09 The Catalyst of Change: Amina’s Awakening and the Birth of Cameras For Girls

07:15 The Impact of Cameras For Girls: Empowering Communities and Challenging Norms

08:51 Navigating Challenges and Celebrating Successes in Women’s Empowerment

22:07 The Power of Internships and the Importance of Equal Opportunities

27:38 Building a Sustainable Future: The Vision of Cameras For Girls

29:21 Exploring Camera Acquisition and Fundraising Strategies

30:39 Innovative Fundraising Events and Their Impact

31:25 Empowering Girls Through Mentorship and Paying It Forward

33:23 Choosing the Right Camera for Empowerment

36:22 The Importance of Ethical Photography and Informed Consent

45:40 Personal Insights and Rapid Fire Questions

49:51 Final Thoughts on Social Impact and Contribution

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Learn more or buy the book Make Your Contribution Count for you • me • we

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Interview with Amina Mohamed, Founder & Executive Director, Cameras for Girls; Canada

Amina Mohamed has always had a passion for photography. She spent fifteen years exploring this passion while working in film and television as a producer and production manager on numerous movies and documentaries. In 2018, Amina designed an initiative called Cameras For Girls to teach photography and business skills to women and girls in her home country of Uganda. She provides a camera to keep + a 4-phase skills-based curriculum for girls and women who want to become journalists and photographers in male-dominated Africa but face gender-based barriers to employment. She has taught 64 young women via an in-person workshop in Uganda, 15 in Tanzania as of recently, and 10 women online in South Africa during Covid 19. Now, 74% have full-time journalism, photography, and communications-related jobs. More importantly, they are confident young women ready to face challenges that define gender inequality in this sector. Amina will return to Uganda in June 2024 to begin the train-the-trainer program. Amina has been featured in the press across Canada and the US and continues to advocate for gender equality and for women's voices to be heard across Africa.

United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal(s) addressed:
#1. No Poverty, #5. Gender Equality, #8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, #17. Partnerships for the Goals

Social impact:
At Cameras For Girls, we are dedicated to empowering young women across Africa to thrive in the male-dominated media industry. We aim to propel these women towards paid opportunities through comprehensive education, targeted training, and removing gender-based barriers to employment. Our mission extends beyond economic empowerment; we aspire to break the chains of poverty, amplify their voices, and champion a bold agenda for women's empowerment and gender equality. Together, we foster a future where every woman has the opportunity to shine, shape their narratives, and lead change in their communities and beyond.

Website: https://www.camerasforgirls.org

Amina Mohamed, Founder, Cameras For Girls, Canada

Note: This conversation is transcribed using AI software, which means the transcription is imperfect. Watch the video or listen to the podcast to hear our guest’s wisdom in her own words. If you want to see more interviews like this, please comment below!

To read about difference-makers international, check out Suzanne’s book Make Your Contribution Count for you, me, we. 

[00:00:00] Suzanne F Stevens: Welcome to YouMeWe Amplified Podcast. I’m really excited about the guest today, Amina Mohamed, the founder of Camera for Girls, because in a world where the voices of women and girls often go unheard, one social entrepreneur is using the Art of photography to not only amplify their stories, but to also provide them with the tools and skills needed to create sustainable change.

Camera for Girls, a vibrant initiative founded by Amina Mohamed aims at empowering women and girls in Uganda and beyond by teaching them photography, journalism, and business skills. This unique approach not only provides economic empowerment, Which, you know, I’m a fan, but also aspires to challenge social norms, breaks the chains of poverty, and advocates for gender equality.

Let’s dive in to the inspiration of Amina Mohamed.

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[00:01:29] Suzanne F Stevens: Welcome to YouMeWe Amplified Podcast, where we have conversations with sheIMPACTpreneurs addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These entrepreneurs are transforming where we live and work with sustainable social solutions. Each episode has actionable insights into what, why, where, and how to make a social impact to empower you, your organization, and ultimately the community.

Hello, I’m Suzanne F. Stevens, an international speaker, author, sheIMPACTpreneur, community builder, and a multi award winning social entrepreneur, and your host at YouMeWe Amplified Podcast. I’m so excited for today. We are going to have a conversation with Amina Mohamed, founder of Cameras For Girls.

Cameras For Girls, teaches photography and business skills to women and girls in the Amina’s home country of Uganda. Oh, I love Uganda. She provides a camera and a curriculum for girls and women who want to become journalists and photographers in the male dominated media industry. Their mission extends beyond the economic empowerment.

They aspire to break the chains of poverty, amplify their voices, and champion a bold agenda for women’s empowerment and gender equality. Yes, a woman after my own heart. Welcome Amina to the show.

[00:02:58] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Thank you so much for that lovely introduction. Lovely to be

[00:03:02] Suzanne F Stevens: Well, it’s so good to see you, meet you, hear about Cameras For Girls, because as a professional photographer, someone who lives in Canada, but contributes to Ugandan girls, I was fascinated with your story. So tell us what’s the catalyst for Cameras For Girls in the first place?

[00:03:25] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: So, my family and I came to Canada as refugees in 1972. I was three. You can do the math. I grew up Very privileged, right? Education is free opportunities. Whatever you want to be in life. You just have to put the hard work in. And women, men, doesn’t matter. You can reach that goal. And upon my first trip back home in 2007 to discover our roots and all the stories that I’ve been told as a child about growing up in Uganda, I wanted to see it for myself. I was working in the film and television industry, I was working in documentary, and I thought perfect way to go back and document a story about the Indians who were returning after being exiled by then President Idi Amin in 72. But what I saw, other than debilitating poverty, was that women and girls were not given opportunities like I was. And it shamed me. And I recognized how I had failed in taking advantage of those opportunities in education. I wasn’t a good student, mostly because I grew up in a household where I was not really given the choice as a Muslim girl. You can’t do this. You can’t be this. You can’t, and I. I’m a fighter, and I fight back. And I saw young women, as young as 14, having gotten married off because their families couldn’t afford education. education. in Africa is a privilege, not a right. And thus, if a family has money, they’re going to educate their boys over their girls. And that didn’t sit well with me. So there was so many things, but I was working in film and television, and I didn’t know how to take my love of storytelling and photography. And marry it with what I saw. That would come many years later, but that was the impetus. And so I had left film and television, and I went into a completely different industry in financial services, making great money, winning awards, but inside I wasn’t happy. Because I had left the creative part of myself, and I was still in the back of my mind was always like how do I pay it forward? How do I make a difference? And I didn’t want to be like the thousands of NGOs that I had seen in the country that were not necessarily using the money. For what they were, like raising the money for that’s all I’ll say about that. So I woke-up in the middle of the night in 2017 and the crux of my career either I was going to go and become a mortgage broker or I was going to you know quit. And literally I sat down to write the exam and I got up and I walked out and that night I had a dream about starting something in Uganda, which was Cameras For Girls

[00:06:11] Track 1: We’ve had a short conversation, of course, I’ve, I’ve done some research on you, but your story is so parallel to mine, except I’m not from from the continent of Africa. But it’s that, that switch, right? That switch that all of a sudden says, this is not giving me enough meaning in my life.

[00:06:34] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: and I think life is, we hear it all the time. Life is so short. Life is so short. People quitting really well paying jobs to do extraordinary things in this world. And I’m not at that level, but one day I want to be. That’s what I aspire to be, right? I’m at my, I’m at my level where I can be, but every single day I jump out of bed grateful that I get the do what I’m doing. I don’t, I’m not ever going to be rich doing this. I just took my first little salary after six years, very tiny, last, like the beginning of this month. But it’s not about the money. It has to be about serving a higher purpose. You talked about it in the intro that gender equality is one of the SDGs.

We follow three. No poverty, SDGs, equal opportunities and education, and of course, number 17, Partnership for the Goals. But when you talk about gender equality, right, we just celebrated International Women’s Day, and you saw women and men on both sides of the fence. I was on the pro side.

Because I see that when we put the work in and we make an impact, it moves the needle ever so slightly towards the positive side. When I can see that when we are taking our work that I envisioned in the middle of the night and I am now serving young women. In across Africa, not just Uganda, because we’re working in Tanzania and next year in Kenya. But we have an online training platform reaching girls across Africa. That they’re able to take something small as a tool like a, a camera or a phone. And tell stories about how they live. Tell stories that serve the greater good, the greater population with impact. To tell, how they live.

How they don’t get opportunities for education. How, you know, a dollar here does not go so far, but a dollar in Africa will go very far. So all of these things, when you empower a girl, you’re not just empowering her, you’re empowering a whole community. And I think that’s what, at the end of the day is what this work is allowing us to do.

[00:08:51] Track 1: Now, there’s so many places you went in that, and I’m going to go back to go forward because there was two particular things I think we need to discuss before we even dive much deeper into Camera For Girls. The first was you were in the financial, you received awards, you were doing well, you were getting paid well, and you chose a different platform.

So to that point though, you’re still a photographer, you still make income through photography. As well as another area that we’re going to dive into separately, because I think it’s a really important conversation. So there, there is some income there and I’m saying that particularly for our audience because we don’t just tend to interview people in the non for profit sector.

On the most part, we usually like people that are making an income and yet contributing in whatever way that looks like for them. But there was something else you said that I don’t think we should ignore is that people, some people are pro or against International Women’s Day.What did you mean by that?

[00:10:03] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: So when I was looking on LinkedIn at all the posts that were coming through, not Instagram, not Facebook, but LinkedIn, where I predominantly hang out. I was seeing some women state that what’s the point of International Women’s Day when we can still not break that glass ceiling? When my male boss on the day that I walk in does not even greet me Happy International Women’s Day. And I get that. Or, the women who have spoken out loud about the abuse that they’ve received working in the corporate space. Both physical and mental. And so for them, International Women’s Day is a very different feeling. And I honor that, and I’ve not dealt with that, but I honor it. But then I also honor the women who have stood before me, giants in their own realm, who’ve carved the path for all of us to follow, that are making headways for women, by women. And, I’m a big believer that if you are a woman who’s rising to the top, don’t forget to bring the other women with you. Don’t forget that by rising together, it’s not competition, it’s success. It’s meeting that target for gender equality. But when we think, oh, I’ve risen to the top, I better keep that woman who’s coming up close behind me at bay. You’re living in a mindset of scarcity, not abundance. And there’s a huge difference, right?

And I live in a world of abundance because I want to see everybody on an equal playing field. I might talk about gender equality in our work, but it doesn’t mean that I’m holding men accountable for that and saying, Oh,no, it’s only for women. I might choose a woman to lead and educate beside me because I want to raise her up, not because I don’t believe that men are equally capable. So I’m very clear on that.

[00:11:56] Suzanne F Stevens: Yeah. And I appreciate your comment on that. And what’s interesting, a couple of things on that is I, a girlfriend of mine, we, who’s in the corporate world, we just had this conversation and I challenged her contribution to uplifting other women in the corporate world. And she admitted that it was never her priority.

I had to work hard. So why wouldn’t they? And I’m like, okay, we need to switch this. Now, something happened in the last week, because the lights went on. And, she shared with me and a couple of her girlfriends that this new awakening that she had by dialoguing with us or others and her circumstance and realizing it is still a patriarchy. My comment was the only way that changes was by You, you may be the trailblazer, but if you don’t bring anybody else up in the process, then you’ve just wasted your time because ultimately that’s change.

But I also want to just address, because you may or may not know, but I think you do know, and you were polite enough not to say it, complete transparency, I am so for international Women’s Day. Let’s be very clear. However, I challenged International Women’s Day and women organizations that don’t pay women on International Women’s Day with the goal of women to, to empower other women for free and the most effective way to give people a Leg up, which is exactly what you are doing, is providing them a pathway to create income so they can be sustainable long term,

leads us right back to Cameras For Girls.

[00:13:48] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yes.

[00:13:50] Suzanne F Stevens: Which

leads to my next question. Is the fact that, 74 percent of the women and girls that have went through your program At least have full time jobs in journalism and photography and

[00:14:04] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: than 75 percent

[00:14:06] Suzanne F Stevens: 75. Whoo hoo. You need to update that website. No, that’s fabulous. That is fabulous. Now, do you do anything in your program to set the foundation for the employment process?

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[00:14:30] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yeah, it’s something we’re advocating for all the time. So I’ll give you an example when I go Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and this might piss some people off.

I’m not afraid of going there. I reach out to women’s media associations. That’s my first stop. Hey, help us advocate for more women in the media space, better pay, eradicate sexual harassment. Let’s work together. Build our resources together and do something. I’ve been with two media women’s associations. The first one wanted to charge me an exorbitant rate just to partner with them. The second one, did a conference with me. Did not show up. The people that I targeted, which were media houses to show up, did not show up.

They put bums in the seats, charged me a lot, and did not live up to their promises. So I think when it comes to the media women’s associations in these countries, they have to stand behind their mandate. If they’re going to say that we’re going to support women to get into media, we’re going to, do all of these different trainings, it doesn’t have to be about your bottom line.

It has to be about building up women’s autonomy and opportunities. That’s number one. Number two, I’ve had meetings with a couple of media houses to state we’re training these girls. They’re coming out of theoretical, predominantly three theoretical, university programs. Which give them no practical skills to go and get the job.

So we do the practical training, right? The photography training, the ethical storytelling, building up business skills that they lack in general such as how do you build a LinkedIn profile and network globally? How do you build a business plan if you want to go into business for yourself? Once you’re making money how do you save some money for a rainy day?

All of these things that in general society they would never get. And I look at this as a holistic program, not just about the photography skills. When I was building this program out, I started with the end in mind, which was job creation. And then I built like from there backwards. Bottom up approach rather than top down. Which brings me back to the media houses. I have spoken to so many media houses. Both at conferences, both one on one, stating that we are giving them skills based training to turn them into Job ready candidates. I need you to meet me halfway by giving them internships, opportunities to work for, another media house, even if it’s for a short term, just to get their foot in the door. Paid work, fair paid work though, not just paid, equal to the men, because here’s the crux of the problem. Is that a man can walk in, having come from a journalism program, no photography skills, no nothing, and get the job. Women are told, and this is why we started, you need a camera and you need to know how to use it to get paid. And that is where the challenge lies. So by giving them a camera to keep, we cut that gender bias, and teaching them how to use it, like not automatic, but fully manual, and then also building up the other skills like leadership, like all of these other things that they need in life to succeed. That’s where we are able to get that 75 percent and above success rate. But these media houses have to meet us halfway. They cannot keep saying, Oh yeah, women are not skilled. That’s BS. They are skilled. That just, the barriers have to be broken down.

[00:18:06] Suzanne F Stevens: as I’m listening to you, and as we just passed International Women’s Day, I, and we’re still, depending which country you’re in International Women’s Month. As we’re talking about this, we’re talking about Uganda, and yet, In Canada, we’re having the same conversation.

[00:18:28] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: We are.

Yep. UK, Canada, doesn’t matter where you are, media is male dominated.

[00:18:34] Track 1: It goes back to all the other areas that we were talking about. as you mentioned in the corporate, and I mentioned in the events industry, how women are still not being valued. And yet the propaganda or the mission statement is we want to bring more women up. We often talk about greenwashing.

[00:18:51] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yeah.

[00:18:52] Suzanne F Stevens: Are we women washing?

[00:18:53] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Is there women washing? Absolutely.

[00:18:56] Track 1: Are we women

[00:18:56] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: think that’s a great

[00:18:57] Track 1: are we? Suggesting diversity, equity, and inclusion and some of my colleagues, and friends of multi cultures were saying, yeah, it was Black History Month and guess what? They didn’t want to pass then either.

So it is fascinating because often I’m pointing out the parallel because it’s two different degrees from Uganda to Canada.

We understand that. That being said, when people often look at developing, emerging, developing countries, if you will, they think they’re so much further behind. And one of the things I’ve been very passionate about is, it’s degrees. The issues are still

the exact same.

[00:19:42] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Absolutely. there’s a middle class in Africa now. And people are like, what? No way. They all live poor. I’m like, no. Look at where, look at Canada. Look at the US. Right? Middle class and poor. rich is a very small subset. Like we’re two degrees from any kind of, income bracket. It’s the same thing in Africa. They’re rising up fast. Right. But if you look at male versus female, it’s males. It’s always going to be the males. Right? So yeah, I also struggle. I’ll be honest. I struggle every time I put my posts or my blogs or whatever out there every year for International Women’s Day, because I look at. When I started doing this work six years ago, have I, have we moved the bracket that much? Hell no. It’s not a hell yeah, it’s a hell no, right? And funny enough, this morning I was listening to a TED talk and it, this woman was speaking about how if you’re in a meeting and a woman says something, a man is going to Say the exact same thing and people will listen to the man, but yet they’ll discount what the woman said.

But she just exactly said the same thing. But the men will, obviously say it better. And she said the only way to break this down is if women start saying for themselves and for others, Wait a second. She just said that exact same thing and you discounted her. So what is the difference? We have to be able to speak up for our rights. We have to be able to speak up for other women’s rights. Be heard, At the end of the day, Cameras For Girls is not just about the ability to learn new skills in photography and storytelling and business. It’s about building autonomy and the ability to be heard. Voice, physically and metaphorically. You know,

that’s a big thing and when my girls can come in the first day in this workshop that we hold to start off our year long curriculum and they can’t even look me in the eye. And a year later they’re able to voice their opinion, say no to systemic harassment, quit the job because they weren’t getting paid and they’re going to look for a better opportunity, that’s success.

[00:21:52] Suzanne F Stevens: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:21:53] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: That’s where I’m at in life, I’m not here to please the masses. I’m here to serve the greater good. And my greater good is by doing this work. Because, it’s the only way to make a difference is to raise those voices.

[00:22:07] Track 1: So, let’s talk about internship.

 I would be curious what your perspective is because particularly because you’re trying to get these girls and women into internship so that they can,

[00:22:18] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I’m more trying to get them into paid work, but sometimes internship is the only way.

[00:22:23] Suzanne F Stevens: okay,and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about

[00:22:25] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: It’s an avenue

for abuse. Honestly, I’ve been there. It really is.

And this is one of the things I’m trying to discourage, in the West for internships without pay, because it does not level the playing field for the underrepresented, marginalized or vulnerable peoples, because a lot of them can’t, they’re paying for school, or they can’t afford it, which kind of leads to do you charge

[00:22:48] Suzanne F Stevens: these girls are women to participate?

[00:22:50] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Nothing, not one dime. We will, buy the camera for them. During the four day workshop, we even pay for, transportation back and forth. Because, some people will say to me, my donors will say sometimes, 5, 000 shillings, that’s less than 1. 50. And I’m like, you can afford 1. 50, but if a girl, is, living very on like lower than the poverty level. How can she afford 1. 50 to get back and forth over four days? We feed them. Even during the year, we supplement their travel and data costs to make it easier. I mean now we do this on a trust basis, right? If a girl says to me, I’ve got a job and I can pay for it. She’s going to pay for it, but if she’s still in school or she comes from a family that’s not supporting her, we’re going to do that to cut the barriers down because they’re already dealing with enough barriers. And we’re all also now able to support women in refugee settlements. We’re bringing on other organizations who have women and girls who want to learn. Because I built this online training platform, I can offer that all for free.

 It sounds like your pricing model is on a sliding scale.

[00:24:07] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: No, for the program itself,

If everything is covered. The only thing I would say is on a sliding scale is if there’s a new partner or collaborator who comes in and they want to access our training, I will state to them that the girls can come and access, but we don’t cover cameras, phones, data, anything for the girls who are not in our core program. There’s a huge difference. There’s the core program and then, I can offer because I built this online training platform to others. Because I’m a big believer in expanding community, supporting community regardless of what your circumstance is to learn and come up. If education was free around the world, it was not a privilege but a right, my God, we would be living in a different world. We really would.

[00:24:50] Track 1: Does everybody show up?

[00:24:53] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: They show up because they sign a contract. I won’t say that I’m not chasing the girls, on a monthly basis for their monthly assignments or their bi weekly photos. For those, people say, but you’ve only got a 75 percent success rate. Well, I’ll say the other 25 percent either quit because it was, got too hard for them because this is a demanding program. It’s all about success metrics and getting girls into jobs or because they got a job and they find that they can’t manage both or they’re just not motivated. And then they have to turn in their camera and, but they can still stay involved in the training, aspect of it. They just lose their camera. Because I’m not here to hand out free cameras. And right, or because that’s the draw. Oh my God, I get a free camera. Yeah, but you have to work for it.

[00:25:44] Suzanne F Stevens: Well, yeah. and that’s where I was going with that because in, in working with a lot of, women in the developing country, we’ve had some really great dialogue in, in even my evolution of when I started my foundation, I wanted people to do something to demonstrate their commitment, or somebody else will get the scholarship in my case.

[00:26:05] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: What I say all the time, you got an opportunity here that so many girls want. Don’t squander it.

[00:26:15] Suzanne F Stevens: How do you vet who actually gets the program?

[00:26:18] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: So we work with university partners. In Uganda, it’s Makeri University, in Uganda, Christian University. In Tanzania, it’s University of Dar es Salaam. And we recruit girls who are either in the last year of studies. or have graduated but have not been able to find work because of that gender based barrier of not knowing photography or owning a camera. So through them we have an application process with essays and they have to go through a lot of hoops to get chosen.Once they get chosen then I, it’s only me. So at this point I have not I’ve not done one on one interviews before they enter the program. But going forward, I will start that process, because now I’ve brought on some advisors that can help me with that. Because it, you know, reading about what the, the program is all about and what their,requirements are to participate and to keep that camera and all that is one thing, but for some, they just don’t get it in the written form. So by interviewing them, then I can say, On paper, she looks great, but otherwise, not so great.

Or on paper, she wasn’t great, but oh my god, she’s going to be fantastic. We’re going to do that for our upcoming Train the Trainer program because a lot more benefits to them that they’re going to get while building a more sustainable program in Uganda.

[00:27:38] Suzanne F Stevens: Now that’s what I was going to ask. Are you partnering with people in Uganda as, okay, great. So they,

[00:27:44] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: absolutely, because it’s a sustainability issue is that we don’t want to be just another NGO or a nonprofit or charity that comes in with that foreigner attitude of, hey, we’re coming in as the white savior, or in my case, the brown savior. No, we want to build a long term sustainable program that other organization will take over while we oversee because we’ll always own the program, but we can’t be everywhere all the time. So bringing up partnerships like Media Initiative Challenge, or Uganda Press Photo Awards, or other organizations that are there doing the great work, allows them to also benefit, be more sustainable, and it’s country centric, right? Allowing me then to build out other countries, other programs.

[00:28:33] Suzanne F Stevens: Yeah, I love that. I love that. because ultimately if they own it, then they’ll advocate for it and, gives you an opportunity to expand and influence and, impact more people.

[00:28:45] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Our teams are all volunteers, in, Uganda and Tanzania. But while they’re volunteers, I still pay for, one of my volunteers mothers just got, previously, sick. they couldn’t pay for the hospital bills. I pay for that, right? Because I want them to recognize the value that I see in them for being on our team.

So they’re family. They’re not just volunteers. And then eventually when we build, we’re looking at registering in either Uganda or Kenya. They would be on the shortlist for being country directors.

[00:29:19] Suzanne F Stevens: Fabulous. Where do you get the cameras from?

[00:29:23] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: So we do a huge outreach to the community. We had Canon for a short while as a sponsor. However, they never gave us Cameras for the girls. they just gave us support in terms of, spreading awareness or whatever. We are in talks with Canon Africa, but it’s been a slow process and I can’t wait for, partners.

I have to move. so maybe next year if they don’t come, fast enough for this year. But what we do is we, fundraise. a lot. And so we ask the community, at large, do you have used cameras that you’re not using? Do you have electronics that are sitting in your cupboard, or going to the landfill? We’ll take them. We sell them. And then if they’re in Canada, we give them a tax receipt for the in kind value. And we do a lot of this. And so So far I think in three years we’ve raised close to 18, 000 just on that, which offsets our camera costs every year. Our camera cost, depending on the price of the camera at the time, is anywhere between 6 to 10,000 dollars, for 15 cameras. So it’s a major part of that budget, for the year long training. And, and then of course we do a lot of fundraising by writing grants or fundraising events, or, trying to get monthly donors, one time donors, whatever it is.

[00:30:39] Suzanne F Stevens: What’s your, what’s been your most successful fundraising type of event?

[00:30:43] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Not last year, but the year before we did this, peer, what is called been to bar chocolate fundraiser. It was a peer to peer fundraiser. So I, chose 10 people and they would compete against each other to raise more than a thousand dollars by selling each bean to bar chocolate experience. It was during COVID and sadly, we chose the winning team and then we could not do the tasting because everything shut down. So what we did instead was send everybody the chocolates in the mail, which, I’m like, you’re going to follow through, but we had a goal of 10, 000 and we raised close to 13.

[00:31:19] Track 1: Yeah, okay, great.

[00:31:21] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: So I like to do out of the box things.

[00:31:23] Track 1: Okay, fabulous. Good for you. Now, is there any expectation of the girls that do take the program, because it is for free, for them in some way, shape, or form to pay it forward?

[00:31:37] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Absolutely. So we’ve got some of our girls who are now mentoring other girls. Maybe within or without the Cameras for Girls program. So to give you an idea, Patience came through our program in 2019, during COVID, she kept on going to work every single day, not getting paid. And in 2022, when I get back, I was like, what are you doing?

Are the men getting paid? And she’s I think so. I’m like Tomorrow, you’re going to sit your butt down, I said it nicely, in front of that computer, finish your LinkedIn profile, and I’m going to find you a mentor. So she kicked off our mentorship program. Found her a mentor, they worked together for six months. Six months later, she won Travel Writer of the Year. Now she started her own consulting company, teaching others to write. And I had a girl come through, not the core program, but the online program, and her goal was to become a travel writer. So Patience is now mentoring her and she just got a job, working as a travel writer and all she had was her phone.

And she’s doing incredible work. So we encourage our girls who come through, pay it forward. Take another girl under your wing, and bring her up. help her to see the benefits of the program. But our girls also are out there spreading the awareness of the program everywhere they go.

They have t shirts, so they wear those if they go to somebody else’s events. and they’re all, Oh, I’m in Cameras For Girls. And so other girls will write to me and say, Oh, I heard from Melanie. She’s in the program. I’d really like to enter. I’m like, you’re not in the core program, but you can enter our core program, but you can enter the online program. All you need is your own tools. And if I see that you’re doing the work, I’ll hook you up with a mentor. So we’ve done that for some of the girls as well.

 This program, and from what I understand, it’s pretty involved. It’s, if you’ve got your courses, you’re doing fundraising for the cameras. What kind of cameras, by the way?

[00:33:25] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: We use the Canon G1X, and I chose that because it is a small enough camera that is like one step smaller. lower than a DSLR, a digital single reflex camera, that they can put in their purse. But it’s great for video. It’s great for photography. If it drops, it’s not going to break. It’s made out of, it’s a full metal body. and they’re not ready at the stage when they’re just learning for a DSLR. But they are also not, they’re way too advanced for us, small point and shoot. So this is a happy medium.

but for our Train the Trainer program where we’re training five girls who are coming out of that cohort of 64 girls who’ve come through Uganda program, they will be given a DSLR 600D, Canon 600D with a variable lens.

So they will be, you know, upgraded, but also there, there’s going to be a lot of more,it’s a nuanced programs built so that these girls can do what I do in six months.

[00:34:25] Suzanne F Stevens: Yeah. I’m an NIKON girl.

[00:34:27] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I’m a Fuji girl.

[00:34:30] Track 1: You’re either this or you’re that, right? Going back to that, there is so much involved with your project and this non profit, which it is, it’s Cameras for Girls is a non profit.

[00:34:42] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: It’s actually a registered charity. So there’s a huge difference. Nonprofits cannot issue tax receipts, but charities can. So we’re a registered charity.

[00:34:51] Track 1: And that I know, tax receipts, absolutely. So that, which is great. So somewhere along the way, as you mentioned early on, you received a little bit of income for running this, but that is, feeding you. You also are a photographer.

And so how do you manage your photography, your education of storytelling, which I’ll ask more about in a moment, and also this charity, how do you manage all that?

And they’re able to feed your family. I’m sorry, what did you?

[00:35:28] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: sleep.

[00:35:28] Track 1: Yeah,

[00:35:30] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I’m very choosy about the projects I take now. I used to do headshots and I used to do, branded photography sessions and what have you. Predominantly, I earn my money by, Teaching other organizations about ethical photography and informed consent. And this came out of this work because I used to lead photo tours through another brand that I used to own called Triple F Photo Tours.

I closed that down after COVID, actually last, not this past January 2022, because I was doing both. I was doing Cameras For Girls and I was leading photo tours and I was burnt out. And neither was Growing. And so I made the decision to close that down. And focus 100 percent on this, but then I also saw an avenue to take what I was doing and segmented into ethical photography and informed consent. And that basically means that when you’re working in a marginalized community that can be in your backyard with the homeless people. It can be with any community or culture that is outside of your norm. It can be in the developing world. You need to be able to tell story, whether it’s, written form or the videography respecting the culture or the person that you are documenting. You need to take into account their history. You need to take into account what brought them to that point. Get their input. It’s not your right to just walk into a community and brrrrr. Shotgun it with your camera or your video camera. It’s not your right to go into that community just because you’re a photographer, and say, “Oh, well, I have the right to be here. I paid huge money to be here and I have that right.” “No, you don’t.” And it’s a, there’s a huge shift happening in the not for profit space. And when I say not for profit space, it’s taking into account North American non profits charities.

In the U. S., they call themselves not for profits. In Canada, we have two. Canadian registered charity or not for profit. So it gets or non profit rather, gets very confusing. Either way, regardless of whether you’re in that space or you’re outside of that space, when you’re working with a marginalized community, you need to ask that person for permission. This is what I’m going to be doing with your photos. This is who I work with. This is why we want to take your photo, and they have the right to say no, or ask you for further information of, “Well, where’s my photo going to be seen? How are you documenting me? No, nobody wants to see those images anymore of, The child sitting on a dirt floor in Ethiopia, it could be anywhere, flies buzzing around, snot running down, half naked.

They don’t want to see it, it’s not impactful to donors anymore, doesn’t move the needle, and it’s not respectful to that child or his mother, to that story. You don’t know what brought that child there. You haven’t taken the time to learn about that previous story to, to make a decision of how you should tell the present story. And then when it comes to ethical or informed consent, that means that you are not just shoving a consent form in somebody’s face and saying, sign here. It means that you are working with a translator. In their language of understanding to explain word by word what they are signing and they have the right to say no.

And if they say no, you thank them with grace and you move on.

Right?

[00:39:05] Suzanne F Stevens: I love that you do this and you’re taking it at a somewhat of a high level. And I couldn’t agree with everything you’re saying. The reality is. Even when we go on a trip

[00:39:21] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: yep,

[00:39:21] Suzanne F Stevens: to, a country and we start taking pictures of little kids and, or people doing something interesting, it’s asking for that consent. When I was in South Africa, a friend of mine who happens to be black was taking pictures of black children.

And he’s, lives in Canada, but I said to him, could you imagine someone taking a picture of your child

[00:39:49] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: child.

[00:39:50] Track 1: in just that sort of click? He said, Suzanne, I hadn’t, I never even thought about it. I said, and that’s. what we do need to think about. Now, let me be clear. I learned this the hard way,

okay? Years ago, I learned it the hard way. I’m

not sound, don’t want to sound, that I’m better than, because I’m not, because I’ve made the mistakes myself. And through making the mistakes, I went, okay, this is not right.

And I’m so glad to hear that conversation is prevalent and needs to be happening.

I’d love to see so much more taking it down to granular level like just the tourist.

[00:40:31] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yeah, that’s what I used to do on my photo tours, right? Is that it would be a huge part of our photo tours. Before we left, we’d have a Zoom call. Funny enough, even if we talked about it on the Zoom call before they came, they’re in Africa. They’ve never been before. They’re like, Oh my god.

Oh my god. It’s shiny penny everywhere you look and they would forget everything you say. So it’s your job or your responsibility to educate them on the shoot. And so I was traveling with a lady who a Canadian lady who wanted to go to Africa for her 60th. She’d been saving since she was five. So I said, okay, but these are the things that we, cannot take pictures or should not take pictures. Not could not, should not. Some images are seared into your brain because they’re so painful to see. We came across a child as we were driving through Kampala, which is the capital city of Uganda, of a child sitting on, squatting on the ground, defecating, and it was the color of ochre, mustard. Very, so, dehydrated. And she raised her camera to take a picture and I put my hand on top of her camera. And she said, what are you doing? I said, why are you taking that picture? And she got mad. And I said,no. Before you get mad, you’re going to go home and you’re going to share this on Instagram. Is it going to change that child’s life? And she said, no, but I paid to come to Africa. I said, that’s not Africa. That’s not the only thing that makes up Africa. So if you’re going to sit with me, and I’m teaching you photography, you are not going to be taking those pictures. And it took her a couple of days to calm down, and once she did and recognized what I was saying, yeah, it clicked, right?

But it takes somebody to educate somebody else about what the practice is. And I’m not just talking about Africa, I’m talking about even in your backyard.

You don’t just have the right to go around and take pictures of anybody without consent.

I love how you just said that though. Is it going to help them? Like I think I change anything? No. It’s going to make

[00:42:29] Track 1: every time I hear at Christmas, there’s no Christmas in Africa. And when. Raising money for, there’s that song, Raising Money for Ethiopians. Every year that comes around and in the new generations, all they see is everyone’s starving in Ethiopia.

And that was, I, when was that in the nineties or, and I, when

I was in the

[00:42:53] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: they just did a documentary about it,

[00:42:54] Track 1: Right. and every, when I was in Ethiopia, I’ve never seen better roads. I, now

there’s a lot of investment, foreign investment. Let’s not go down that road, but in more cranes than I’ve ever seen in my life. And the most incredible people I’ve ever met and women transforming their communities in ways beyond.

So it’s that’s one of the reasons I want to share these stories so badly is there’s so many women internationally doing profound things, but they’re doing it with a consciousness and that is absolutely essential.

[00:43:29] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yeah, because even when I go now to, on my travels, I still like to carve out time for myself to go and do wildlife photography, right? Or I’m walking in the streets with my camera. Always with my camera. I will point at my camera, especially if they’re across a crowded market. And they’ll say, and I’ll say thank you and walk on, or they’ll say, right, and I’ll then I’ll go up and show them the photo and then I’ll ask them for their WhatsApp number and I’ll send it to them.

Because most people have never seen themselves on camera, right?

They’ve never seen themselves. Last year, I got the opportunity, or two years ago, I got the opportunity to go to the Maasai. Everybody goes to the Maasai. But what I did was I put my camera in my bag and I asked my guide to teach me the local language of greeting. And because I did that step, I, the women said, why are you here?

And the guide said, Oh, she’s a photographer. She’s guiding a tour. And they said, “Can she take our picture? We’ve never seen our picture and I had a long lineup of women and I took their portraits and then I had them sent to the guide and printed out and he sent them because he was Messiah. And then the men asked me to take photos of a male only ritual of a goat slaughter. And it was like phenomenal. But because I had respect, I was invited in. I did not force myself in. So anywhere I go around the world, that is ingrained now. I ask for permission and I elicit conversation and get to know the people as people rather than subjects. And I think that if we did that everywhere we go, it would change the face of humanity, right?

Of just people getting to know people for, yeah, not because I’m in your country, but because of, hey, you look interesting or you’re wearing something beautiful, right?

[00:45:22] Track 1: Curiosity and respect can

carry you a long way.

[00:45:25] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: can, right? Because I want that. So why shouldn’t they want that?

[00:45:29] Suzanne F Stevens: With that, we’re going to do our 11 and 10 because I added a question.

We’re to do our rapid fire.

[00:45:36] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Okay.

[00:45:38] Track 1: All right. Let’s have some fun.

So what is one thing you wish you knew prior to engaging down this contribution path?

[00:45:47] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: How hard it would be to fundraise.

[00:45:50] Suzanne F Stevens: What is the worst piece of advice you ever received?

[00:45:55] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: You’re a girl, you can’t do that.

[00:45:57] Suzanne F Stevens: What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

[00:46:01] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Just do it.

[00:46:03] Track 1: What is one piece of advice you would give to an entrepreneur who wants to have or make a social impact?

[00:46:10] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Figure out your goals first, what makes you tick, what makes you happy, and your skills, and then figure out a way to give it back, to pay it forward.

[00:46:20] Suzanne F Stevens: What is one recommendation you would suggest to promote a culture of contribution?

[00:46:28] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Think about how you can make a difference even if it is one dollar. Or something you have like a skill set and pay it forward to a charity like Cameras for Girls. We’re always looking for people to come and teach what they know and just do it because when you can pay it forward it makes you feel more abundant and you attract abundance.

[00:46:49] Suzanne F Stevens: Amina, I don’t know if you have any children.

[00:46:52] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I do.

[00:46:53] Track 1: Do you have a daughter?

[00:46:54] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I have one girl, 16,

[00:46:56] Track 1: Okay. Let’s put her back to being 10 years old because it’s a very informative time in our lives. So if your daughter was 10 years old today, what is one piece of advice you would give to her?

[00:47:10] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: I would tell her, never allow anybody to tell her that she’s not good enough.

[00:47:15] Suzanne F Stevens: What advice do you wish you received?

[00:47:18] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: That I’m enough.

[00:47:21] Suzanne F Stevens: What is one thing you had to do that made you uncomfortable? But if you didn’t do it, you wouldn’t have had the desired impact on your social initiative.

[00:47:33] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Just, not just only coming up with the idea, but actually acting on it. If I had never acted on it due to, feeling of, oh I can’t do this, or I’m not good enough, or I’m not the person to do this, I would not be where I am today. You just gotta do it against all odds. Do it against the feeling inside that tells you’re not good enough, because you are.

You are good enough.

[00:47:58] Suzanne F Stevens: Who’s your greatest female influence in your life?

[00:48:01] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Oh my god, there’s so many. first one that comes to mind is Oprah Winfrey.

She rose against all odds, She rose, she came from poverty, she came from abuse, and she rose to do some pretty incredible things.

[00:48:16] Suzanne F Stevens: What three values do you live by?

[00:48:20] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Empathy.Curiosity. I’m always curious, always asking questions. And love of learning.

[00:48:30] Suzanne F Stevens: Besides yours, which beneficiary do you think needs the most investment of time, research, and money?

[00:48:37] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Women. I want to say that like loud and proud. Women need your investment. Not just your money, but your time, your expertise, your, your social capital, your ability to spend time with her, empower her, teach her something that she might not know. Or might not have access to knowing.

[00:48:58] Suzanne F Stevens: A book that you would recommend for others to read?

[00:49:03] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Ooh, I love reading. I’m reading Demon Copperhead right now by Barbara Kingsolver. Phenomenal book, sad book, but really well written.

[00:49:14] Suzanne F Stevens: And where can people reach you?

[00:49:16] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Easy, through our website at www cameras for girls.org or Amina, A-M-I-N-A at cameras for girls, C-A-M-E-R-A-S-F-O-R-G-I-R-L-S. Or on Instagram or LinkedIn or anywhere else.

[00:49:37] Suzanne F Stevens: And of course, we’ll have your website on your exclusive page on the podcast. youmewe. ca site, as well as your bio and the transcript, the video, and of course the audio as well. So do you have any words of wisdom for our audience regarding making a conscious contribution to society?

[00:49:59] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Yeah, if you are sitting in a power,privilege position, and you’re looking for, and you’ve got a business or you’re self employed, look at how you can take your skill set Or what you do and build social enterprise around that.

It doesn’t matter. There are so many people out there who can benefit from what you do or what you do or how you do it. Teach them, give it to them. Or, build a program on the side to build that social impact by every time you make a profit, maybe you put 10 percent into this bucket that will go to that social side of yourself.

[00:50:40] Track 1: Thank you, Amina, for sharing your insight, inspiration and social impact with us today.

It’s great to have you.

[00:50:46] amina-mohamed–she-her-_1_03-14-2024_134744: Thank you so much for the opportunity. This was phenomenal.

[00:50:50] Track 1: Well, thanks for saying that. And to discover more podcasts, sheIMPACTpreneurs transforming where we live and work with sustainable social solutions, visit podcast at YouMeWe.ca.

 Until next time, I’m Suzanne F. Stevens, and I encourage you to make your contribution count for YouMeWe.