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Mission

To empower learners from developing communities in South Africa with the skill of photography while promoting artistic self-expression and critical thinking as means for raising social awareness.

What We Do

Through photography, Umuzi Photo Club places young people from South Africa’s developing communities at the centre of conversations on important community issues, cutting through socio-economic and generational boundaries. Township youth develop photography, visual literacy and critical thinking skills in fun, interactive workshops, and become advocates for change with their visual testimony of pressing community issues. The raw, honest images they shoot are exhibited in situ to encourage youth-centered, community dialogues, as well as petition stakeholders, such as local government, to enact positive change. In this way, Umuzi facilitates child participation at a community level. Through international exhibitions and media coverage, Umuzi amplifies its young activists’ messages to reach influential patrons at home, and abroad. Umuzi is thus a powerful local, as well as international platform for these otherwise marginalised young people to tell their stories. "Umuzi" is a Zulu word meaning "village".

Partner Schools

Barnato Park High School - located in the heart of Hillbrow – educates learners from grades 8 to 12. With approximately one thousand learners, Barnato is the largest inner-city school in South Africa. Learners who attend the high school come from communities all over Johannesburg, some travelling a significant distance every day.

Karabo Primary School – located in Naledi, Soweto – educates learners up to grade 4. Of the 350 learners, 30% come from Tladi informal settlement and lack proper housing. Many of the learners have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS and are cared for by their grandmothers or older siblings. The school holds an admired position in the community for providing meals to its needy learners.

Kwena Molapo High School – educates learners from grades 8 to 12. With approximately 640 learners from Diepsloot and Thabo Mbeki Informal Settlement, it straddles the physical and socio-economic boundaries separating Johannesburg’s informal urban sprawl from the rural veld.

Zifuneleni Junior Secondary School – located in Orlando East, Soweto – educates learners from grades 7 to 9. Of the over 850 young people who attend the school, 80% are from severely impoverished households, too poor to afford school fees. The school runs a feeding scheme for its students to which the principal and teaching staff make personal contributions.

Common concerns in the communities we work with are unemployment, the lack of basic services, teenage pregnancies, HIV/AIDS, alcohol abuse and domestic violence. These social issues prove fertile ground for class discussions, photographic assignments, and an opportunity for reflecting on human rights.

How to contact us

To find out more about Umuzi, or to inquire about purchasing photography or hiring our energetic youth photographers, please send us an email or call +27 73 341 4576. You can also join our Facebook Group to stay current with the latest news.