How Your Camera Donations Furthers Our Impact in Africa

We’re very grateful to everyone who donates cameras to our charity Cameras For Girls because your donation allows us to help females in Africa, specifically Uganda. It enables us to provide each of our students with a camera to keep and teach her how to use it to tell stories that matter – stories that can take her from a life of poverty to one where she is in charge of her destiny. In this article, we’d like to walk you through some of our work so you can see how your donations have an impact on the ground in Africa, and then give you an idea of what to do with your old cameras so you can donate them to help further our impact in Africa.

Canon G1Xii used by Cameras For Girls in their training

What cameras do we accept for donation?

We accept all types of cameras but prefer digital SLRs. Film SLRs are not ideal because they require film and developing costs, which are not sustainable nor readily accessible in most countries across the continent of Africa. We also accept point-and-shoot cameras, video cameras, and anything else you use to take pictures with. If you need a memory card for your camera, we also have those available! If you're donating a point-and-shoot camera or digital camera with a rechargeable battery, please ensure the battery is charged before granting it to us.

We have even accepted used computers, projectors, photography equipment, etc.

What do we do with the camera donations?

At Cameras For Girls, we give photography workshops to teach young women and girls how to use a camera. With your donations, we can provide them with cameras so they can learn how to take pictures and capture memories that will last a lifetime. Furthermore, it allows them to get paid jobs in the journalism or photography fields, which are typically male-dominated.

Females in most parts of Africa are required to own a camera and know how to use it to get jobs, but males don't have this requirement, which further exacerbates the issues around gender inequality.

These women are trying to combat the stereotype of being a woman who is not allowed to work and must stay at home. They want to be able to continue their work and help bring change, but they do not have the resources necessary. That is where we come in. We provide them with the opportunity for further education, enabling their voices to be heard and seen through photography.

We have plans to sell the images that these girls are producing so that we can equip them with additional income sources.

Why Can’t They Just Buy Their Own?

Unfortunately, many people cannot afford the price of a camera, often due to poverty and being part of a low-income household. In addition, families may not be able to afford the cost of a camera over the cost of food, rent, transportation and other daily living costs. African females have less opportunity for economic independence and often have no voice or agency, which means they need support.

Sadly, many females are married off after just hitting puberty or are denied an education simply because they are born a female. Many of our students, recruited through a university program, have had to sacrifice a lot to attain higher education. Some students have to leave their families and children behind and be supported by an NGO. Some have had to leave their families of origin because they did not support their dreams. So not only are these girls now responsible for finding the fees to pay for their education, but they are also tasked with finding work to support themselves. Coupled with fewer jobs after the pandemic, life gets even more challenging, so while purchasing a camera might be what they need to do to get a paid position, it's the last thing they can afford, so they are caught in a rut.

It's a life vastly different from what we have in the western world because even when things get tough here, we can still find government support for most programs. None exist in Africa, except through the various NGOs that are there to assist, but sadly there are too many people asking for help and not enough money to go around.

How do your donations further our impact in Africa?

Along with the monetary donations we need, your camera donations, even small ones, help us to further our impact across Africa. We can only offer our in-person workshops in Uganda, but we have requests, to expand to South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, to name a few.

To meet the demand, we built an online training portal. Over 85 women across Africa can now enjoy learning various photography, storytelling and even business training topics at their convenience to help propel their career aspirations.

How To Donate Your Camera Equipment

So you have read about all the camera equipment we accept as donations, which supports our mission to empower females in Africa, using photography as our medium.

But what happens if you have a donation of camera equipment, but it’s too expensive to send to us? We have had generous supporters offer their camera donations, but they live too far, so we in turn help them find another charity in their area to donate to. Not only does that support that worthwhile charity, but it keeps the camera equipment out of the landfill.

All in-kind donations will receive a charitable tax receipt.

Do you have old or new camera equipment you wish to donate? Please fill out our form and we will be in contact.