Thirteen frames from the Tumaini Festival, held inside Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi. There’s nothing else like it anywhere in the world. It’s people standing shoulder to shoulder, smiles ear to ear. Congolese, Burundians, Rwandans, Somalis, and so many others — all moving together.
You sense the hardship before your mind can begin to imagine the extent of it. The last thing you’ll hear is a complaint. The smiles are real — warmer than anything I expected.
People here are resilient and resourceful beyond measure or imagination. They build businesses, master various art forms, teach each other trades, and find ways to learn and grow in conditions that would break most of us.
There’s a kind of love-first way of moving through life in Dzaleka. It’s something people create for themselves. And in the middle of everyday struggle, they still show up for one another.
The stories, the faces, the performances will always stay with me. I’m truly grateful I got to be part of it. More to come.