Cameras For Girls Features Joyce Kimani

Dec 30

Joyce Kimani is a young and talented Kenyan young woman, who attended my last Cameras For Girls training in Kampala, Uganda. She was in Uganda to earn her degree in Mass Communications and Journalism from Makerere University. This would be our last training in June 2019 before COVID hit and everything was stopped.

I took on 18 girls for the photo training in Kampala, Uganda. Three of them had their own cameras. One was Joyce. It was a very basic DSLR, and it was so old that she could not advance further than the auto setting, so I provided a newer camera to Joyce and since the training, she has been consistently improving.

Other than photography, Joyce is also a very talented graphic designer but being in Kenya does not provide her with many options, so we are working together to help her get further with her career goals. Part of our training is also business skills training, to help our students improve or work on a resume, cover letter and more importantly their Linkedin profiles.

Joyce is also a mother to a young son and aims to become a role model to him. In a country that is not predominantly fair to the female persuasion as is true in most developing countries, Joyce is finding it difficult to find her footing in the journalism sector. She has been offered jobs only to be told she would have to pay for the job with money or sex – thankfully she turned this down as she is careful to preserve her dignity.

Below are the latest images she has taken and you will see captions but that is simply because part of the training is to get in the mindset of sending photos with captions. As these girls are training or learning how to be journalists, this request from me enhances their skills and their opportunities in the journalism field.

We are looking forward to growing our program both in and out of Uganda. Watch for news come about our training in South Africa in collaboration with Khwela Womxn. Khwela Womxn leverages technology to connect young womxn around the world in local sisterhood circles and an international network, offering support, exposure and access to opportunities and experiential learning in order to become upwardly mobile and grow.