Organisers of the 2021 Tumaini Festival have described this year’s commemoration as a prefect platform that has assisted promotion of intercultural harmony among communities at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa District.

Founder of the Festival Tresor Mpauni told Yoneco FM that through the festival, the refugees have shared a common understanding with Malawians who also patronised the Festival.

According to Mpauni, it is crucial for Malawians to view the refugees as fellow Africans who can bring change in a society not as strangers.

“The Tumaini Festival aims to promote a peaceful coexistence between refugees and the host community so what I want to achieve through the festival is to see refugees integrated into Malawi socially, economically and also culturally.

“Because we have so many diverse cultures at Dzaleka, just in the Camp we have more than ten types of people living here and they have so much to share with Malawians as well as they have so much to learn from Malawians,” said Mpauni.

On her part, one of the artists who performed at the Festival Rudo Chakwera emphasised on the need to preach the message of hope through music to the Refugees.

She said: “The message mainly is about love, hope and faith, we want to encourage our friends especially here at the Refugee Camp that there is hope even in every situation.”

“It doesn’t matter that they are here within confinement but there is hope and the message that we sang about is that God us, God loves them today more than yesterday,” said Chakwera.

This was the 7th edition of Tumaini Festival which had a performance of both local and international artists.