The problem of displaced people

There Is Hope is a Malawian non-governmental organization (NGO) providing refugees of Dzaleka refugee camp, as well as their Dowa host community, with access to education and income generating activities and strengthening their spiritual well-being. Our vision is to see them escape poverty and become self-reliant.

This 5-minute video produced by Lindi van Niekerk and Alexa Sedgwick captures everything that we stand for.

Political turbulence in many regions of the world has increased the number of displaced people fleeing complex emergencies and disasters. They often end up in large camps where environmental health measures are insufficient. Refugees are people who have crossed an international frontier and are at risk or have been victims of persecution in their country of origin. Internally displaced persons (IDPs), on the other hand, have not crossed an international frontier, but have, for whatever reason, also fled their homes.

At There Is Hope, we believe that the impact of any work which seeks to graduate refugees from a dependency on aid will only reach its full potential when Malawi extends the rights of employment, freedom of movement, integration and access to public education to refugees. We have designed an extensive program aimed at lobbying the government to update its legislation, while bringing greater national awareness to the refugee issue. Allowing refugees to be part of the workforce will not only release refugees from destitution, but it will benefit Malawi with the resilience, determination and innovation that refugees have developed over many painful years.

There Is Hope has already come a long way – through our work we have been able to benefit refugee and Malawian communities alike.

60,000,000

displaced people

33,972

people per day forced to flee conflicts

1 in 113

people affected worldwide

Latest updates

View more posts from the blog.

24 October 2022 / Read more

Back to class…

By Francisco Fhote Forditor is a 22 year old Malawian girl who was born in a family of 6 comprising 3 girls and 1 boy. After being selected to pursue secondary school education at Chinkoka CDSS in Madisi, Dowa, Forditor was caught up in the ills of adolescence, like many girls her age. About half […]

3 August 2022 / Read more

Hope dawns on Jean De Dieu!

“Without the scholarship, my life would have been wasted”. By Francisco Fhote After more than four failed attempts to find a scholarship for his university education, Jean was depressed. Jean loitered in destitution. He started applying for a scholarship soon after he had finished his secondary school education in 2018. He was unsuccessful twice. Then […]

22 July 2022 / Read more

Beating the odds!

By Eleanor Macheso ( and contributed by Francisco Fhote) Born and raised in Dowa district, Maligerita’s upbringing was not significantly different from that of her peers. Like most of them, she was raised in an underprivileged household. Even though that was the case, her parents underscored the importance of education and encouraged her to attend […]

15 March 2022 / Read more

One for the child

“Welcome Mr. Phukaphuka,” I warmly uttered the words as I gently stood up from my seat. I was very pleased that I was finally meeting him. We had been rescheduling our appointments for quite a while now owing to his busy schedule as a policeman cum legal officer. Mr. Aulerious Phukaphuka has been in the police service for over a decade and his resume was rife with a plethora of achievements that he is so proud of – achievements in the child rights field. Among his touted accomplishments is the establishment of a special legal clinic specially dedicated to handling child-related cases ranging from child marriages to defilement and others.

Our story

The work and nature of There Is Hope is directly linked to the life and story of the organization’s Executive Director, Innocent Magambi. He lived as a refugee for more than 27 years, beginning as a small child, and knows firsthand the struggle and misfortune of displaced people fleeing economic crisis or military conflicts. Innocent debunks many common misconceptions about refugees and is dedicated to sharing the reality of what it means to be a refugee. As founder, he shares his vision for the plight of displaced people and encourages everyone he comes in contact with to understand why – and just how much – their help is needed to make a difference and change lives.

An innovative approach

For us, charity work is not a matter of giving handouts but empowering beneficiaries to make the best out of their situation. Poverty is not so much a lack of material possessions as it is a state of mind developed through culture, beliefs and debilitating circumstances. Challenging this state of mind with love, compassion and care can transform a person’s attitude to the extent that they go on to become a source of inspiration and support to those around them.

Our greatest resource at There Is Hope is not the money we are able to raise but the time invested in our beneficiaries – listening, understanding and sharing in their suffering and joy. By forming authentic relationships we gain guidance about what their real needs are, and then embark on the transformation journey together.

There Is Hope strives to bring positive transformation to the lives of both refugees and Malawians. Our goal is to ensure that these people achieve self-dependence.

All programs are offered on a non-discriminatory basis and strive to engender key values:

Quality

A focus on program excellence.

Accountability

Striving for transparency and efficiency of programs and resources.

Ambition

Setting measurable goals and committing to continuity.

Collaboration

Respecting and thriving on diversity, leveraging our strengths to make a difference.

Integrity

Aspiring to the highest standard of honesty.

Tolerance

Regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender or disability.

Faith

Practicing humility and giving credit for our successes where it is due.

The situation in Malawi

Malawi, famously known as “the warm heart of Africa”, is a sub-Saharan landlocked country located in southeastern Africa.

Bordered by Tanzania to the northeast, Mozambique on the east, south and west, and Zambia to the northwest, Malawi obtained independence from the British in 1964. Despite a peaceful history and a democratic political structure, Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Its estimated population of 18 million is one of the fastest growing worldwide. 45.1% of the total population is under 15 years old while life expectancy at birth stands at 56.7 years for men and 59.9 for women (UN, 2016).

More than half of Malawians live on less than $1 per day and the vast majority rely on subsistence farming. Industry is limited and major exports include tea, coffee, sugar and tobacco.

Refugees and asylum seekers in Malawi originate primarily from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Somalia, and more recently, Mozambique. Some of these people are the children and grandchildren of people who fled conflicts as far back as the 1970s, living in refugee camps in other countries before moving to Malawi in search of better opportunities.

It is in this difficult environment that There Is Hope works with refugees and their host community to provide access to business development, education and spiritual development programs.

Get involved

If you are interested in working with us remotely or here in Malawi, we would love to hear from you. Please email us and tell us about yourself and what you have to offer. Working together is a powerful way of encouraging and developing each other!

Refugee for Life

Learn more about life as a refugee by reading Innocent Magambi’s personal story. Available from Amazon.com in print or on Kindle.

Our programs

There Is Hope runs a wide range of programs to help the refugee community in Dzaleka refugee camp. We strongly believe that real help is much more than just the emergency response to the basic needs of people in crisis. Our aim is to educate, train and empower vulnerable and displaced people, giving them the dignity, respect, sense of belonging, care and love that they need to survive – and ultimately – to thrive.

Vocational training

Giving people tools to establish normal lives enables them to provide for the needs of their families and to graduate out of poverty.

Leadership development

For change to effectively take root in a rural African setting, the whole community must be involved and the change must be accepted and endorsed by the leaders.

Social enterprise

A sustainable income can transform families by providing necessary goods and services, increasing a sense of dignity and by allowing parents to be positive role models to the next generation.

Advocacy

We believe that the impact of any work which seeks to graduate refugees out of aid dependency will only reach its full potential when Malawi extends to refugees the rights of employment, freedom of movement, integration and access to public education.

Education

There is Hope values education as a transformational tool that sharpens minds and a movable capital that can be utilized wherever people end up in life. We provide scholarship funding for secondary and university studies for young people with potential which would otherwise be choked by lack of finances.

100%

of graduates from our Leadership Development program are actively involved in their communities

80%

of artisans from our Social Enterprise, Kibebe, have invested part of their income in a second business

81%

of our vocational training graduates are able to utilize their skills in their respective communities

78%

of our refugee graduates can ably use their skills despite restrictions in the national employment laws

Crisis and recovery