Letters From Uganda: A Woman’s Journey. A Global Reckoning.

Amina Mohamed, Founder of Cameras For Girls, leads a workshop in Uganda, teaching young women the fundamentals of photography.

I want to introduce something deeply personal on this last day of March, Women’s History Month. It's a brainchild born from a voice note, a website link, and a divine nudge I couldn’t ignore. It's called Letters From Uganda.

Still working on the perfect title. But this? This is the beginning of a movement, not just a series.

It all started with a question.

Last November, I was grinding. I was trying to figure out meaningful ways for my company, IGY6Company.com, to connect with those serving in the military. I messaged over 60 connections on LinkedIn, asking a simple question: How do you market to the military? No sales pitch. I was just trying to learn.

That’s how I met Amina Mohamed, Founder and Executive Director of Cameras For Girls. Her response? “We’re a charity working in Africa, not tied to the military. But thank you, and Happy Thanksgiving.”

Amina Mohamed, Founder of Cameras For Girls, photographed in front of a butterfly mural — a symbol of transformation that mirrors her mission to empower young women in Uganda through photography and storytelling.

That could’ve been the end. But instead, it opened something in me.

Africa? Uganda? Cameras? What does it mean to be a woman there? What’s LinkedIn like in Uganda? Do women serve in the military? Do they have equal pay? Is there an “industry standard” there? Or is the standard… survival?

Amina sent me the link to her website, and that was it. I was obsessed, inspired, and, honestly, enraged.

What Amina and her team are doing is revolutionary. They’re not just teaching young Ugandan women how to take photos. They’re giving them the tools to reclaim their narratives — to own their stories in a country and culture where their voices are often silenced or sidelined.

Through Cameras For Girls, I was connected with one of their graduates. I won’t share her real name here, but I’ll call her “The Brave One.” She is a single mother of two. A creative. A fighter. And now, a sister in this mission. She is not someone I mentor. She is someone I’ve learned from. Her stories about the treatment of women in Uganda’s corporate world make me sick. They make me furious. They make me act.

What This Is

Letters From Uganda is a weekly series of honest, unfiltered stories from women living and working in Uganda. These aren’t statistics. These are lived experiences. They are raw. They are soul checks. They deserve your attention.

This is not a place for platitudes or pity. It’s not meant to shame men, but will call out injustice if that makes anyone uncomfortable. Good. Growth usually does. 🌱

In Uganda, women are publicly praised for promotions and positions they’re never paid for. Companies post about onboarding them and celebrating them, but then they don’t pay them, don’t protect them, and don’t even respect them.

These women engage with those posts. They share and celebrate them because maybe—just maybe—this time, it will be real. Maybe the public attention will force the truth. But it doesn’t. And they’re left waiting. They're still working, still unpaid, and still unseen.

Until now.

A Canon PowerShot G7 camera used during a Cameras For Girls workshop in Uganda — a tool that becomes a voice for young women learning to tell their own stories through photography.

Why Now?

Because here in America, we’re choking on performance. We’re overwhelmed with curated empowerment, Instagram feminism, and manufactured outrage. Meanwhile, across the world, women are fighting battles that don’t trend.

This isn’t a comparison of struggles. It’s an expansion of perspective.

Maybe one woman reading this stops mid-rant about her boss or her latte order and realizes that not all injustice comes with hashtags. And sometimes, giving thanks is the first step toward action.

A Cameras For Girls participant holds a camera and pen during a training session in Uganda — gaining technical skills and the confidence to pursue a career in media and storytelling.

The Facts

• Only 29% of formal businesses in Uganda are owned by women. Yet women power over 70% of the informal economy.

• 1 in 3 Ugandan women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.

• Cameras For Girls teaches women professional photography and journalism skills so they can gain employment, financial independence, and visibility in male-dominated industries.

• Yet, many graduates are exploited by companies claiming to “empower” them.

This is why I’m using my platform: Silence is complicity.

What To Expect

Every week, I’ll publish a new letter. One story. One voice. One truth. It may make you uncomfortable. It should. 🌱

These aren’t easy reads. But they are necessary ones. If even one of these stories pushes someone to reflect, give thanks, and take action, it’s a win.

A Cameras For Girls participant practices shooting outdoors in Uganda — building confidence behind the lens and preparing for a future in media.

Do. More.

Support Cameras For Girls. Share their mission. Mentor someone. Ask hard questions. Open your network. Use your voice to lift someone else’s.

This isn’t about charity. This is about humanity.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me.’” — Isaiah 6:8

Let’s go. 💕🔥

#LettersFromUganda #SendMe #CamerasForGirls #IGY6LLC #WomenInUganda #DoMore #UntilEveryWomanIsSeen 🇺🇬

Graduates of the Cameras For Girls program in Uganda celebrate their achievement — leaving empowered with new skills, confidence, and the tools to shape their futures through storytelling.