The Business
Fotograf empowers young East African children through photography using recycled equipment from the UK – focused on learning to tell a story through imagery.
The challenge
It all really started in 2012 when I cycled from the UK to Rwanda – and loved the people I met in sub-Saharan Africa. I returned and started teaching English at a community school near the Congo border, and felt real kinship there. Back in the UK, someone approached me with an old camera and asked if it would be any use to the kids out at the school, from there things just kind of snowballed.
The project has been running since 2015 but before joining the Allia programme I was at a bit of a crossroads and needed to make a pivotal decision about whether to commit or abandon the project.
The result – how the programme helped
The programme has been a great help. I’ve started the process of rebranding, including a new website. The Allia team has been particularly helpful and pushed me to think about my purpose. It’s enabled me to take the project to the next level and I feel more confident and assertive about my offering. Invaluable.
Next steps are getting registered as a charity. Long term, I’m looking to roll out across the wider East Africa region and refine the project structure so that it offers a defined pathway for these young people to progress, whether that’s into arts, photography, journalism, or something else.
It’s enabled me to take the project to the next level and I feel more confident and assertive about my offering. Invaluable.”
Julian Claxton, founder of Fotograf
