Tumaini festival at Dzaleka Refugee Camp set for November 14

The Dzaleka Cultural Association (DCA) has announced that the 2015 Tumaini Festival will take place on 14 November at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa. Speaking in an interview, Festival Director Trésor Nzengu Mpauni also known as Menes la Plume, said preparations towards the festival are now at an advanced stage. “The 2015 Tumaini Festival is happening on Saturday, 14 November, and it’s going to be another fun-packed arts and cultural festival. Following the success of the 2014 Tumaini festival, we decided to put together another festival this year,” he said. Mpauni further said that this year’s festival will be bigger as they have prepared a lot of activities and that the artist line-up will feature amazing talent from around Malawi and Dzaleka itself. Highlighting on the importance of the festival, Mpauni said this event presents a unique opportunity for Malawians and refugees to promote intercultural harmony through entertainment and artistic expression. “The festival brings together people from different cultural backgrounds and talents so this event provides a platform for them to share experiences and learn from each other,” he said. Tumaini festival is a cultural event that seeks to bring joy and promote cultural exchange and is supported by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and Plan Malawi. It features music, poetry, comedy, theatre, acrobatics, dance, traditional food and art exhibitions. The inaugural event was held on 22 November, 2014, at Dzaleka community ground and saw music performances from some of the country’s renowned music artistssuch as Blasto, Sirius, Neil Nayar, the Daughters Band and George Kalukusha. The DCA, an organization that promotes cultural exchange among refugees and Malawians, came up with the idea of having a cultural festival that should bring back hope to refugees thus naming the festival ‘Tumaini’, a Swahili word which means ‘Hope’.