Meet The Magambis

Innocent and Florisa Magambi first saw each other in 2004 in Dzaleka, a refugee camp situated in Malawi, Africa. Innocent, a refugee from birth, was living in the camp while Florisa, who’s Italian, had left her work at Visa International in London to volunteer in Malawi’s capital for a year.

In 2006, the two met again; this time Innocent was a college student in the capital and had founded There is Hope, a refugee-focused nonprofit. At the time Florisa was exploring ways she could be involved to alleviate the suffering of refugees trapped in a lifetime of encampment. Their friendship and shared passion for social justice made them inseparable, and they got married in 2009.

While Innocent used his 27 years of lived experience as a refugee to shape the vision of There is Hope, Florisa used her prior experience in customer service and corporate work to support the growth of the organization with project coordination and communications. After the birth of their first child, Mwiza, Florisa’s work at There is Hope began to shift. Mwiza was born with a rare condition called holoprosencephaly, needing multiple surgeries and long-term care in Europe. Mwiza lived 20 difficult months, but the pain endured by the couple was transformational. Florisa began to work alongside refugee seamstresses to manufacture handmade sensory toys and baby gifts that were not available in Malawi.

Over the years, the project has grown into a social enterprise called Kibébé, which today employs between 30 and 80 artisans in the hand-crafting of ethical, eco-friendly accessories and decor. There is Hope continues to transform lives through education projects for both refugees and the local host community.

After 15 years as the Executive Director of There is Hope, Innocent left the organization with a staff body of 53, and a leadership team of local professionals. Deeply marked by his own experience, Innocent has dedicated the next phase of his commitment to advocating for refugee rights through Inua Advocacy. (In Malawi, all refugees face indefinite encampment, excluded from local integration and deprived of the right to employment.)

Living in Lilongwe with their 3 sons (Teo and twins Sam and Jo) their work is only possible through sustained financial support from individuals, churches, and charities.