Institution2 min read
Tumaini Letu
Also known as Tumaini letu
The refugee-led non-profit founded in 2012 by Trésor Nzengu Mpauni (Menes la Plume) that organises the Tumaini Festival and runs cultural and economic inclusion programmes from within Dzaleka.
Origins
Tumaini Letu — “Our Hope” in Swahili — is a non-profit organisation based in Dzaleka. It was founded in 2012 by Trésor Nzengu Mpauni, the Congolese poet and cultural organiser known as Menes la Plume, who arrived in the camp as a refugee.
Activities
The organisation is best known for the Tumaini Festival, which it has staged inside the camp since 2014 and which is widely described as the world’s only arts festival held within a refugee camp. The festival is covered in its own entry; Tumaini Letu is the institution behind it.
Beyond the festival, the organisation describes its mission as promoting the economic, social, and cultural inclusion of refugees in Malawi — through workshops and training, business and connection opportunities, and by opening Dzaleka to visitors. Academic research (Stammen 2025) emphasizes that Tumaini Letu’s work actively counters both national and global marginalisation of refugees, serving as a platform for intercultural harmony and community agency.
Recognition
Tumaini Letu’s own reporting counts thousands of entrepreneurs supported and jobs created around the festival economy; these figures come from the organisation and have not been independently audited. Its recognition includes the 2020 Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support, and the World Bank has profiled the festival’s founding as a case of refugee-led social inclusion. Research scholars (e.g. Makhumula 2019, Stammen 2025) further frame the organisation’s cultural events as a radical act of resistance against institutional constraints and physical confinement.
References
Sources
- 1Waiting in Dzaleka Refugee Camp - Agency through self- and community organisation
University of Applied Sciences Erfurt / DB-Thüringen, 31 January 2025
Master's thesis examining Tumaini Letu and Tumaini Festival as spaces for refugee agency and counter-narratives.
- 2About us
Tumaini Letu
- 3About the Tumaini Festival
Tumaini Festival Archive
- 4Breaking the mold: refugees founding Tumaini Festival in Dzaleka refugee camp, Malawi
World Bank (Nasikiliza blog)
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.
People
Menes la Plume
Congolese poet, musician, and cultural organiser who founded Tumaini Letu and the Tumaini Festival in Dzaleka.
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
Livelihoods and the local economy
How residents earn income through trade, services, agriculture, creative work, training, and digital labour despite restrictions on movement and formal employment.
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.
History
Waiting in Dzaleka Refugee Camp: Agency through Self- and Community Organisation
A 2025 Master's thesis by Anna-Lena Stammen (University of Applied Sciences Erfurt) analyzing refugee agency, waiting, coping mechanisms, social space mapping, and refugee-led organisations under Malawi's encampment policy.
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