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SASKATOONEXPRESS - September 19-25, 2016 - Page 1
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VALID ONLY AT THESE THREE LOCATIONS: 1702 8TH ST. • 705 22ND ST. • 3330 8TH ST. Volume 14, Issue 37, Week of September 19, 2016
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Zakreskis create hope in Malawi W
hen Peter and Elaine Zakreski first visited Malawi in 2008, their discoveries were rather shocking and they quickly saw a need for action. The Saskatoon couple saw there were shortages in drinking water and food. There were scarcely any educational opportunities or health care for children. The villagers were vulnerable in the Domasi
DC091925 Darlene
Africa has a special place in the hearts of Elaine and Peter Zakreski. (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson)
NED POWERS People
region in Malawi, a Central African country bordered by Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique. Fate would have it that the Zakreskis were travelling on a vacation back from Africa in 2006, when Elaine occupied a seat on the airplane next to Jean Kalinga, who had used most of her life savings to build a safe house for preschoolers in Malawi.
By Christmas time in 2006, Elaine wrote in her annual letter to Santa Claus, “Africa has a special place in my heart. I see it in my mind’s eye, especially the faces of the children. One day I will return for myself and hope that love can make a difference in the world.” She and Peter went in 2008, wanting to see the realities of everyday life. A year later, they went back again, sat down with the chiefs of the villages and heard, over and over again, the cries for fresh water, foot bridges and schools.
The Zakreskis launched Hope for Malawi, investing their own resources and then reaching out to a generous and engaged Saskatoon community. Today, the annual gift in excess of $100,000 is making a difference. “Every penny goes right to the grassroots,” said Peter, who is retired as a business executive and well-known for community leadership roles in the 1991 world junior hockey tournament and the 1989 Jeux Canada Summer Games. (Continued on page 12)