Malawi competition unites refugees and locals

Refugees carry out a standard cultural dance throughout the Tumaini Pageant on the Dzaleka refugee camp in Dowa, central Malawi, on November 2, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP

A 72-year-old singer with dyed hair, outsized sun shades and a flashy tracksuit limped onto the principle stage of the Tumaini Pageant in Malawi as the gang erupted with pleasure.

“Ine ndi ndani?” (Who am I?), he mentioned, addressing the gang of about 12,000 folks, who responded by roaring: “Ine ndi Jetu!” (I am Jetu!)

Billed because the world’s solely music competition in a refugee camp, Tumaini, which runs from Thursday to Saturday and has been held yearly since 2014, brings collectively refugees and locals to share music, artwork and crafts.

Just some kilometers from Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital, the Dzaleka refugee camp was a jail earlier than being reworked right into a camp following a mass inflow of refugees from Africa’s Nice Lakes area in 1994.

The camp homes folks from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia, amongst others.

The camp was meant to deal with about 10,000 refugees, however now homes greater than 60,000 folks.

“There should not many individuals my age who go on stage and carry out in entrance of so many individuals. I’m very grateful,” Jetu, a great-grandmother, advised AFP in an interview after her efficiency.

An aerial view of the Dzaleka refugee camp throughout the Tumaini Pageant on the Dzaleka refugee camp in Dowa, central Malawi, on November 2, 2024. | Picture credit score: AFP

Everybody feels “heard”

Established by Congolese poet Menes La Plume, the occasion attracts 1000’s of tourists and artists from throughout Malawi, but additionally from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

For Menes, Tumaini is greater than only a competition, it’s a platform for connection, hope and coexistence.

“It is a distinctive house the place refugees and locals rejoice one another’s cultures, showcase their crafts and present the world their resilience,” Menes mentioned.

“Tumaini is proof that artwork and humanity can thrive even in essentially the most troublesome circumstances.”

Pageant director Tammy Mbendera advised AFP that this yr’s competition was organized by the camp’s youth, most of whom had been born there.

“It is inspiring to see these younger folks do that,” he mentioned, including that “the outcomes converse for themselves.”

“The gang is completely satisfied, the competition persons are completely satisfied, the folks contained in the camp are completely satisfied… everybody seems like they have been heard.”

South African musician Maveriq Mavo, who carried out on Saturday evening, mentioned he was “moved” by the initiative.

“Some issues should not completed for cash, they’re completed for the trigger. That is why I am right here,” he mentioned, including that he wrote a music “particularly devoted to the refugees right here.”

“It is about time we thank Malawi as a result of not all international locations settle for refugees,” Mavo mentioned.

Change perceptions

Different artists who carried out at Tumaini included Malawi’s main hip-hop musician, Mfumu Hyphen, but additionally Vankson Boy V, a Congolese refugee from the camp.

“I am glad I used to be in a position to showcase my expertise in Tumani,” Boy V mentioned.

Pageant attendee Yasintha Kanyoza praised the occasion for humanizing refugees and mentioned it was the one time refugees and Malawians had been in a position to combine.

“I really feel Tumaini supplies a chance for each side to work together and get to know and perceive one another higher,” he mentioned.

Refugees “are often demonized and portrayed as violent, hungry and determined,” he mentioned, including that the competition modified their notion.

“I’ve seen for myself that these are folks with the identical wants and needs as me,” Kanyoza mentioned.

Menes, who initially conceptualized the competition as a method to join refugees with folks in surrounding cities, by no means thought the occasion would change into so in style.

“We see folks from all corners of Malawi coming to Dzaleka to rejoice with the neighborhood right here,” he mentioned, including that he hoped to duplicate the competition in different African international locations.