Mines Zachary Balenga
18 years old
The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Biography collected and written by Angela Bizera
Photo by Primo Luanda Bauma

Mines Zachary Balenga is a young man from The Democratic Republic of the Congo and is currently living in Dzaleka Refugee Camp. He is 18 years old and came to Malawi in the year 2014 due to insecurity issues in his home country. He is a student but does online business selling bangles, caps, and fashion stuff made from chitenje clothing.

He loves poetry and started it in the year 2018 when he joined the Branches Arts group and developed himself in different areas, such as public speaking and creativity. Before he joined the group, he had been reading different books and got inspired with poetry. He later on started performing, and it encouraged him to write more. Poetry inspired him and helped him to know a lot of things. He can express himself and the environment around him.

To him, poetry means acting on something which is living, performing on something that has life and getting inspired by it. For instance, when you write about the gospel and people read it, you are spreading the gospel and you build on it.

Since this is a project on empowering poets and different talents, they should support arts from different refugee camps. Some hidden talents will be discovered, not only the refugees but also the different people around them.

Poem 1

On their feet, years are deadless.
Their bones speak of every life placed in eternal souls.
Their hearts sing millenniums, breaking all the days.
The seasons walk with them, speaking in their languages.
All the winds cheer in their directions.
Their paths heal problems, and wake again in strength.
They never die or suffer like dead living things.

In their tongues no food is taken like of this world.
Their mouths, with bodies, strengthened with words.
Their spirits, longer, powerful in words and meditations, like of the heavens.
Everything they fed in their spirits was GOD IN PRESENCE.
Their blood was not human, but spiritual, which lived in the power of the word of God.

The humans will die, the world will form immortals.
The world will live and birth new nations.
The teachings will form the minds of dead humans.
Their spirits will not die, but feed in the spirit of life.
The life will not shine, but the truth will be seen to the believers.
Life will shine to immortals in Christ.

The singers will praise, the heavens will open.
The power will be obtained in faith.
The believers will live in praising the presence of their FATHER.
The world will know the father of immortals. God, the living spirit.