Hello imagebreakers!

I hope your week started nicely.

Today I would like to share with you quite a touching story sent in by one of imagebreak readers, Amina Mohamed, owner and operator of "Triple F Photo Tours".

I think what Amina is doing is pretty remarkable.

I let her "take over" today's edition of imagebreak.

Have a great read.

Yours truly,
Tomash

"Using the Camera to Change Lives of Girls in Uganda"
by Amina Mohamed

When I first had the thought of getting back into photography, I knew for me it had to be much more than just taking photos for pay or for enjoyment.  I knew there had to be a way of giving back using the camera as a tool.

I used to work in film and television in various capacities; wardrobe assistant, producer and then production manager and sometimes when I got lucky on-set photographer.  I also worked as a volunteer photographer for a media outlet and did freelance weddings and events.  I eventually walked away from it all after burning out but one of the highlights of my career was a self-financed documentary that I produced, directed and shot in Uganda on the return of the exiled Asians under Idi Amin’s rule.

I and my family were one of those exiled Asians and I was only 3 when life changed for us forever.  I always dreamed as a child of returning to Uganda one day and when the 30^thanniversary came up, I decided to tell the story.  It was at that point in 2007 I saw the plight of girls and I knew I had to do something to change it for the better but at the time I just did not know what it would be – it was definitely not going to be just giving money, as unfortunately in many cases the money never reaches the people who need it most.

I remember clearly August 2017; I woke up in the middle of the night with inspiration or a crazy dream – you choose!  I shook my husband awake and exclaimed “I know what I want to do for the rest of my life – I want to go to Uganda and train girls in photography” he mumbled “here we go again” as admittedly I was always coming up with crazy ideas.  He turned around and went back to bed and I started writing out the plan.

Exactly one year later In August 2018, I embarked on my first training and it was my friend Venex, who is a journalist by trade in Uganda, who suggested I train local girls, who were either studying to become journalists or were journalists but not necessarily getting full-time employment because they did not own a camera or know how to use it to tell their stories, thus they were not getting paid or hired.

From my first training we had immediate success. Joanita is a 22-year old young journalist and during the training or even at her interview did not say anything about the fact that she was currently working at a big newspaper but was not getting paid or published because she did not own a camera nor knew how to use a camera. Two days after we completed the initial training, she went to show her editor the camera and was put on full-time payroll and is now getting published and paid a minimum of 4 times a week.  In a country where the avg monthly income is $50 USD, she is now able to support not only herself but her mother and siblings as well.  Joanita and girls like her are the reason I keep working hard to make this a success.

I have just returned from my second trip this past June – where I trained 18 girls this time; 3 girls had their own camera’s but did not necessarily know how to move past the auto setting.  Over 3 days we worked from a small space in the slums and they learned all the basics; how to hold the camera, the exposure triangle, composition and more.  It was not only exciting for them but for me as well, as it fulfilled the philanthropy side of who I am.

Something like this from far away is not feasible without support from locals on the ground and also international sponsors. For instance, KelbyOne has been wholeheartedly supportive from the word go – they provide me with free licenses each year so the girls can learn editing and watch photography videos to keep up their training.  Youth Arts Movement Uganda is my partner on the ground in Uganda and he offers free editing training to the girls on a bi-weekly basis as well as attendance at his monthly photography and film training camps so they can take their training to the next level.  I further their training with online reviews and bi-week assignments that are delivered through a Whatsapp group.

To successfully run this program, I need to raise about $5,000 each year; I need to pay for the editing space, buy cameras (mostly used as I cannot afford 15 new cameras at this time) and run the training for an entire year.  There are no costs to the girls as they cannot afford it otherwise and the whole idea is to bring them up to a level where they can find employment with the help of the camera and subsequent training.

I take a year to raise funds through Go Fund Me and people, who hear about my program graciously donate cameras for use.  What I cannot use, I donate to other similar initiatives, which helps us all spread the love of photography in our own ways. 

Once the girls finish their year, they are expected to mentor the next year’s girls, which not only keeps the training going but helps each girl to bring up another girl, financially and otherwise.

Now to the camera I rely on to tell my stories; I use the Fujifilm X-T3 and my two lenses I take to Uganda are the 18-55 kit lens and the 70-200mm lens for safari shots. I love Fuji and what it has done for my personal photography. I find Fuji’s color rendition to be amazing, while the control of the buttons is so easy to adapt to and use in under-pressure situations, especially on Safari when you know that shot might be the only time you actually can get it. The photos shared here were for the most part taken with these two lenses.

I currently run the program through my travel company Triple F Photo Tours (Where Fun, F(ph)otography and F(ph)ilanthropy Meet) and hope to be getting my charitable status this year so I can raise funds on a grander scale. When someone signs up for a photo-tour to Uganda, a portion of the cost goes towards training a girl in photography. Our travellers not only see the beauty of Uganda but they get to interact and help train or in some cases improve upon their own photography. My mission is to make it life-changing for both traveller and student and I think I am well on my way!

Triple F Photo Tours
Amina's Instagram Account
Go Fund Me Campaign

To donate or get more information from Amina please reach out at booking@triplefphototours.ca.

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