Celebrating 10 years of promoting unity

Tumaini Festival clocks 10 years this year. The festival brings together refugees, surrounding communities and tourists tgether to promote unity sing arts. Our arts edtor EDITH GONDWE caught up with Mene La Plume to discuss the journey this far. Excerpts:

Q

: Tell us how you on the 10th anniversary of the Tumaini Festival?

A

: When I think of the beginning, it brings a lot of tears to my eyes. At that time I was a refugee and it was impossible to even imagine starting something like Tumaini. There were a lot of good reasons to give up on the dream. First, we did not have the opportunities, connections, the information and the resources because of being a refugee led initiative. The second challenge was to receive permission from the government to open the refugee camp to people coming from different parts of the world. The third challenge was to convince funders and the corporates to support such an evening because it was the first of its kind in the world, no one wanted to take the risk of supporting it. However, we managed to navigate all the challenges by trying on our own. We did online fundraising and managed to raise our first money through crowdfunding platforms. Once we started advertising, we had support from the media and managed to get some artists interested to perform for free to support the initiative. On the festival day we had a small audience of 300 people [the majority were from the expatriate community] coming to support us, we also had four media houses that were interested in covering the event.

Despite the financial challenges, I thought it’s best to make it a free festival because I believe that art is an essential need for people’s souls, and everyone, even refugees, have the right to access the beauty, the joy, the peace and the inspiration it comes with. The second reason I thought this festival should be free is the core reason why I started the festival, I want to see refugees, Malawians and people from all over the world celebrating together without any discrimination. Refugees were marginalised and not included in any Malawian or international event, unless if it is for using their vulnerable situation to look good or attract pity, so I thought of some ways of doing something that would show refugees in their full glory, something that would show the talents, the beauty, and savoir faire of refugees. Something that would show refugees and humans all potentials.

Q

: Over the years, Tumaini has become a beacon of hope and unity among people of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds. How have you managed to achieve this?

A

: The first objective of Tumaini was to promote a peaceful coexistence, mutual understanding and intercultural harmony among refugees and the host community. Over the years, the festival has grown, attracting even an international audience. It has now become a symbol of social cohesion between communities. This makes us happy because it is the reason we started this initiative. It means that we have achieved our objectives.

Q

: Ten years is a long time. Over the many events you have hosted, what are some of the outstanding activities that come to mind?

A

: After looking at the past 10 years, I would say every edition of Tumaini has been special. Every year, there is a voice in me that tells me not to do it or to give up because every year comes with different challenges. Then there is the other voice that comes with optimism, positive energy and strength and tells me to not give up. To be honest, during every Tumaini festival I cry for at least 10 minutes when everyone is partying. I cry tears of joy, the joy of seeing people celebrating without any discrimination of race, social status, class or gender, the joy of seeing people’s faces flow with the beauty that only art can bring out of us all.  As an organiser, every edition has been special, because every edition has been a win.

Q

: As we celebrate 10 years of Tumaini, what are your thoughts on what has been achieved so far and what plans are there for the future?

A

: I would say, the first and biggest achievement is how Tumaini demystified Dzaleka, the way Tumaini has managed to put refugees on the map and amplify the voices. Through Tumaini, we have seen a lot of connections and collaborations made between Malawians and refugees. We have played a big role in changing the way people perceive and treat refugees. When I look 10 years back, I can say that so much has changed and Tumaini has been at the centre of that change.

Apart from that we have achieved so much as an organisation. Since 2014, an estimated 179 000 people have attended the festival. We have worked with 500-plus artists from 20 different nationalities. The festival has gained national and international media coverage estimated at 66 200 000 people worldwide, presenting a genuinely different and genuine story about refugees. Tumaini Festival has created jobs and business opportunities for the community at Dzaleka Refugee Camp and is the main source of commercial revenue for the camp.

The festival has successfully provided 5 229 temporary jobs and business opportunities for refugees and has helped the community at large to generate approximately $1 250 000.  Due to its uniqueness, Tumaini has won several international recognitions.

Tumaini was the winner of the 2020 Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support and the 2018 World Bank Africa Region’s Social Inclusion Hero Award. It was also a finalist of the 2020 Ockenden International Prizes and a finalist of the 2020 Elevate Prize. Tumaini Letu was represented at the first United Nations’ World Refugee Forum in 2019. In 2021, Tumaini was among the 10 laureates of the Global Pluralism Award.