A 72-year-old singer with dyed hair, oversized sunglasses and a flashy tracksuit hobbles onto the main stage at the Tumaini festival in Malawi to the applause of the crowd.
“Ine ndi ndani? » (Who am I?), she says, addressing the crowd of some 12,000 people, who respond by roaring “Ine ndi Jetu” (“I am Jetu”). Presented as the only Festival in the world organized in a refugee camp, Tumaini brought together refugees and Malawians on the weekend of November 2 and 3, 2024, as every year, in music, art and crafts.
Located a few kilometers from Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, the Dzaleka refugee camp, which hosts the event, was a prison before welcoming a massive influx of refugees from the Great Lakes region in 1994. It accommodates families from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia. That is more than 60,000 people, whereas it was initially designed for 10,000 refugees. ‘Not many people my age get the opportunity to get on stage and perform in front of such a crowd. I’m really grateful,’ Jetu, singer and great-grandmother, told AFP after her appearance on stage.
Created by Congolese poet Menes La Plume, Tumaini attracts thousands of visitors and artists from across Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe. For Menes La Plume, Tumaini is more than just a Festival: a platform for connection, hope and coexistence. ‘It’s a unique space where refugees and locals celebrate their different cultures, display their crafts and show the world their resilience.’ ‘Tumaini is proof that art and humanity can thrive even in the most difficult situations,’ he explains.
– “Better understand each other” –
This year’s 2024 edition was organized by young people from the camp, most of whom were born there, explains Festival director Tammy Mbendera. “It’s inspiring to see them do this, and the results speak for themselves,” she says. ‘The crowd is happy, the artists are happy, the people in the camp are happy… Everyone feels like they have been listened to.’
South African musician Maverick Mavo, who performed on the evening of November 2, 2024, said he was ‘touched’ by this initiative. ‘There are things you don’t do for money, but for the cause. That’s why I’m here,’ he said. Adding that he wrote a song specially dedicated to the refugees in the camp. “We have to thank Malawi, because not all countries welcome refugees,” he appreciates. Other artists who performed included Mfumu Hyphen, one of Malawi’s best-known hip-hop musicians, and Vankson Boy V, a Congolese refugee from the camp, who said he was ‘happy to have been able to show (his ) talent in Tumaini’.
Yasintha Kanyoza, a festival-goer, thanks the organizers for humanizing the refugees, noting that it is the only time when they can mix with Malawians, ‘interact, get to know each other and understand each other better’. Refugees “are generally demonized and portrayed as violent, hungry and desperate,” she says. But Tumaini changed his perception: ‘These are people who have the same needs and desires as me.’
Menes La Plume, who designed the Festival to connect refugees and residents of surrounding villages, never thought the event would take on such scale. ‘We see people from all corners of Malawi coming to Dzaleka and sharing with the local community,’ he says. Now hoping to export the concept of the Festival to other African countries.
© Afriquinfos & Agence France-Presse
