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Nação Ubuntu: Um Lugar Chamado Esperança
Also known as Ubuntu Nation: A Place Called Hope, A Place Called Hope
Luísa Marteleto's illustrated book about a child whose family reaches Dzaleka and becomes involved with the Nação Ubuntu project; an English edition is titled Ubuntu Nation: A Place Called Hope.
Story and audience
The book follows a child whose family is forced to leave home because of violence. After reaching Malawi, the family lives in Dzaleka, where restricted work opportunities and severe material hardship shape daily life. Their involvement with the Nação Ubuntu project changes the opportunities available to the family.
The publisher classifies the 80-page work as children’s and young-adult literature. Vanessa Alexandre is credited as illustrator and as the person whose experience inspired the story.
Editions and titles
The documented Portuguese edition is Nação Ubuntu: Um Lugar Chamado Esperança, published by Editora Chico Xavier in 2023 with ISBN 9786589497622. The marketplace lists an English-language cover titled Ubuntu Nation: A Place Called Hope and links to an English Amazon edition.
These are edition titles of the same work, not separate books. The encyclopedia uses the bibliographically documented Portuguese title and records the English title as an alias.
Dzaleka in the narrative
Dzaleka is a named setting rather than background context. The book introduces younger readers to forced migration, encampment, poverty, sponsorship, and organised support through one family’s story. Its account is written from the perspective of the Nação Ubuntu initiative, so claims about the project’s impact should be read as part of that organisational context rather than as an independent evaluation.
References
Sources
- 1Nação Ubuntu
Livraria Martins Fontes Paulista, 2023
Bibliographic record for the Portuguese first edition.
- 2Nação Ubuntu - Um Lugar Chamado Esperança
Editora Chico Xavier
Publisher description, creators, format, and subject.
- 3A Place Called Hope by Luisa Marteleto
Dzaleka Refugee Stories, 17 March 2024
Related entries
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
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.
Infrastructure
Housing and overcrowding
Housing conditions in a settlement holding more than four times its planned population, where limited land affects shelter, drainage, sanitation, roads, and public space.
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