00:00 Tsaleka Refugee Camp is home to 50,000 inhabitants.
00:04 Since 2014, the camp has hosted an annual arts event
00:08 to showcase the talent and rich heritage of the people living there.
00:11 The festival is known as Tumayini, which is Swahili for "hope".
00:15 It was very difficult, first of all, to put people together
00:19 because everyone wanted to be in their communities and divided.
00:26 At that time, we worked and I started thinking of how I could unify those people.
00:33 What if we come together and do this association
00:38 where we can be sharing our cultures, to know each other better,
00:42 and to understand each other and everything.
00:46 So, yes, I started doing that and actually I managed to put together
00:51 about 30 young people from Somalia, DRC, Rwanda, Burundi.
00:57 The Tumayini Festival was established in 2014 by Tresor Mpauni,
01:02 also known as Mene La Plume, a slam poet who was forced to leave
01:06 the Democratic Republic of Congo due to his work and political activism.
01:11 As the festival approaches its 10th year, there is a burst of celebrations.
01:17 For many, it's a welcome distraction from their daily struggles
01:20 and for some young people, the music delivers a path to unlock meaningful opportunities.
01:26 Music is one of the best things I have because I can express what I have inside me.
01:37 This year it didn't help me a lot. Last year we also had Tumayini.
01:45 I of course met a lot of new people. I found many friends.
01:53 But what helped me more was that I received a small amount of money,
01:57 which helped me pay for my school fees.
02:04 The Dzaleka Camp was established in 1994 in response to the thousands
02:09 of fleeing genocide in Rwanda and wars in Burundi and the DRC.
02:14 Tumayini's founder believes that the festival has done more than just give residents
02:18 at Dzaleka a platform for music. It's given those in exile a way to connect to their home.
02:25 It also gives refugees the opportunity to celebrate themselves,
02:29 to celebrate their culture and to be proud of their culture.
02:32 So Tumayini is actually encouraging culture preservation for the refugees
02:39 because people come from their countries, they come to Malawi,
02:42 they leave everything behind. But we at least make sure through Tumayini
02:48 that people don't forget about their cultures, that people keep a sense of their identity
02:54 and celebrate it.
02:56 (upbeat music)
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