Refugee for Life

Innocent Magambi

A refugee from birth, Innocent spent the first 27 years of his life in five refugee camps in Eastern and Southern Africa. Despite facing much hurt along his journey, he never allowed the adversity to define him or to determine his destiny. With support from a local Church, Innocent became a change agent for fellow refugees and the host community in Malawi. Against all odds, he founded There Is Hope, an organisation that aims at mitigating the effects of long-term displacement among refugees and generational poverty among Malawians.

Innocent led There is Hope for fifteen years, impacting thousands of refugees and Malawians through educational scholarships, vocational training, Job creation through social enterprise Kibebe, and Leadership development through Bible training. A strong believer in healthy leadership succession, Innocent left his organisation, which now operates with a staff of 53 under the safe hands of local professionals. Deeply marked by his own experience, Innocent has dedicated the next phase of his commitment to advocate for refugee rights through Inua Advocacy. In Malawi, all refugees face indefinite encampment, excluded from local integration and deprived of right to employment.  

More details on Innocent’s journey can be found in his memoir titled “Refugee for Life: My journey across Africa to find a place called home”.“I have consistently used the difficulties I overcame as a catalyst to help others going through the same”

Rtn. Innocent is a member of the Rotary Club of Lilongwe- Lingadzi, Malawi.