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Menes la Plume

Portrait of Menes la Plume

Also known as Tresor Nzengu Mpauni, Trésor Nzengu Mpauni

Congolese poet, musician, and cultural organiser who founded Tumaini Letu and the Tumaini Festival in Dzaleka.

Last reviewed 13 July 20262 sources

Biography

Menes la Plume is the pen name of Trésor Nzengu Mpauni, a poet, musician, and cultural organiser from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He came to Dzaleka seeking asylum in 2008.

In 2012 he founded Tumaini Letu, meaning “our hope” in Kiswahili. The organisation developed arts programmes intended to support expression, peaceful coexistence, and public recognition of refugee talent.

Tumaini Festival

La Plume founded Tumaini Festival in 2014. The festival created a stage inside Dzaleka for refugee, Malawian, and international performers and grew into one of the camp’s most visible cultural institutions.

His work connects artistic practice with community organising. Poetry and music are not presented only as personal expression, but as tools for changing how refugees are represented and for building relationships between Dzaleka and wider Malawian society.

References

Sources

  1. 1
    Tumaini Festival history

    Dzaleka Digital Heritage

  2. 2
    Dzaleka Art Project

    George Mason University research project

Related entries

Culture

Tumaini Festival

A refugee-led arts and culture festival founded in Dzaleka in 2014, bringing camp residents, Malawian communities, and visiting artists together.

Place

Dzaleka Refugee Camp

A long-established refugee settlement in Dowa District, Malawi, opened in 1994 and now home to a large, multilingual community from the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa.

Institution

Yetu Community Radio

A multilingual community radio station based in Dzaleka, established to serve refugee and Malawian communities with public information and community programming.

Institution

Refugee-led organisations in Dzaleka

Organisations founded or led by refugees that provide education, advocacy, technology, livelihoods, arts, protection, and mutual support within Dzaleka and beyond.

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