Dzaleke is Malawi's only refugee camp - less than an hour's drive from Lilongwe - and is home to nearly 20,000 refugees who have fled conflict-affected states across central and eastern Africa - Rwanda and DRC; Somalia and Sudan. Many were forced to flee alone, leaving behind families who are now lost. The camp was formed in 1994, and is effectively permanent. One of the first jobs a newly arrived refugee has to undertake is to build his or herself a home out of mud-bricks.
Malawian law prohibits the inclusion of refugees in society: they cannot get jobs; they cannot go to university; they cannot become Malawian citizens. Stuck in a catch-22 - unable to return to their homelands for fear of reprisals; unable to build a meaningful future in Malawi; and unable to afford to travel on - most of the refugees have been living in the camp for years. Those I spoke to took a fatalistic attitude; just waiting for something to change.
Mostly I took pictures of kids, because they're a lot more expressive and like having their photograph taken.
The photograph below is my favourite. Every time I lined up the shot, this girl would stand to attention in her doorway with the most solemn face she could muster. Then when I showed her the photographs she would burst out laughing.
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