Working with a Ugandan NGO Helped Our Students Excel
Cameras For Girls students interview beneficiary from Concern For The Girl Child
A significant part of our programming with Cameras For Girls is to provide in-field training for our students so they can practice what they learn during our 4-day workshop in Uganda. During this full-day practice session, they visit a local NGO, learn about their work, meet their beneficiaries, research possible storylines, and then develop them into a written piece accompanied by photos they took to add to their portfolio.
Working with this local NGO, Concern For The Girl Child, helps our students excel in their goals to become journalists in Uganda - a male-dominated space.
Why we partnered with Concern For The Girl Child?
Concern for the Girl Child is an international NGO that partners to provide student support in Uganda. They work with teachers, schools, and communities to help girls go to school and stay in school. Concern for the Girl Child also provides female empowerment programs that teach girls how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS.
Our female students in Uganda are recruited from university journalism programs, notably Makerere University and Uganda Christian University. Still, the programs are more theory-based than practical, so the girls lack the adequate skills to learn how to tell stories for the field, which hinders their job prospects.
We also chose to work with Concern For The Girl Child because they work with similar themes of gender equality and female empowerment, which are a part of our mission at Cameras For Girls.
Catherine interviewing one of the beneficiaries of Concern For The Girl Child
Why did we choose to offer this experience?
As a part of our 4-phase program for females endeavouring to become journalists in Uganda, we feel that including the in-field experience is an invaluable and transferable skill. This past June, we offered our students the opportunity to work at an NGO in Uganda for one day. The experience was both inspiring and challenging. The students learned about the challenges females face in accessing education. They got to visit two high schools where Concern For The Girl Child supports girls, and they also got to visit one of the beneficiaries at home. Many of our females come from similar circumstances where attaining education was also a struggle, so seeing younger girls and having that chance to tell their stories was overwhelming and empowering for both our students and the beneficiaries of the NGO.
We were so impressed by the level of engagement our students showed in this experience that we plan to offer it again at the next workshop in Uganda.
This in-field experience allowed the students to see how they could use their skills outside their classrooms. Furthermore, we hope that by coming together to work with the NGO, they broaden their network and storytelling skills in telling stories that concern female empowerment and/or gender equality.
What happened when we volunteered at the NGO?
The goal for this day was two-fold. On the one hand, it was to provide that missing field experience the girls need to build a portfolio of written articles and photos, which comes in handy when they apply for jobs in journalism. Second, it was to provide the NGO with much-needed articles and photos for their marketing.
The girls did not know what to expect as they arrived. The NGO was located in a remote area of Kampala, so many, including me, got lost. However, we quickly got started once we arrived by jumping into three different vans that took us across Kampala.
As we met some of the beneficiaries, it became apparent how much this small but mighty NGO had done in its 20 years of working in Uganda. Some beneficiaries spoke about their struggles before contacting CGC, and others spoke about how difficult it is for their parents to afford fees, books, tuition, food and rent. A difficulty that many of our girls could also relate to.
As their stories took shape, I witnessed transformation and bonding. The girls shared their struggles, stories, lives and successes, and even our own Catherine took one of the girls under her wing to further mentor her as a "big sister."
What did we learn from the experience?
Before this year's workshop, we did not have an in-field practice day as we lacked the resources. However, during the pandemic, when we could not return to Uganda, we started to develop our program further and our partners in the country, including Concern For The Girl Child.
We wanted to create an opportunity for students in Uganda to have the same experience as students in Canada, or the US might have. These opportunities allow them to explore their passions, discover new ideas, and learn about themselves. Working with Concern For The Girl Child helped us do this because we were able to expand the in-classroom training to a real-world experience.
Cameras For Girls allowed our students to use their creativity and hone their technical skills while impacting their community. The photography training was incredibly impactful, as it helped them to express themselves through the lens. Plus, it gave them in-field experience, which is invaluable for their future careers. Furthermore, we learned that our students thrive in environments with autonomy and responsibility.