Watch above: A Saskatchewan organization is striving to be a game changer for families in one of the world’s poorest countries. As Amber Rockliffe reports, the group Hope for Malawi has built a medical clinic and a preschool safe house in the African country and continues to make a difference there.
SASKATOON – A Saskatchewan organization is striving to be a game changer for families in one of the world’s poorest countries. The group Hope for Malawi held a fundraiser Saturday to raise money to build schools and other essential facilities in the African country.
One of the fundraiser’s attendees in Saskatoon was Emmanuel Ndayishimiye. When he was 11-years-old, his family fled to Malawi to escape the Rwandan Civil War. While Malawi provided sanctuary, Ndayishimiye witnessed the many effects of poverty there, and that inspired him to become a nurse.
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“Interacting with people is my thing, and it’s something that keeps changing – everyday you see something different,” he explained.
While studying nursing at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Ndayishimiye went back to Malawi to volunteer at a local hospital. He said the facility lacked even basic medical supplies.
“Access to equipment, sanitizer, or latex gloves – those kinds of things,” he explained.
For the past six years, the founders of Hope for Malawi, Elaine and Peter Zakreski, have worked hard to build essential facilities in the country.
“I had been very upset by what I had witnessed touring five countries in Africa, and not sure what I could do about the orphans, and poverty that I saw,” said Elaine.
“We’ve had many friends and people offer to give us things, so we’ve built a school, a maize mill, a community centre, a bakery; every time we go, there’s just more and more things happening in these villages.”
The Zakreski’s were inspired after meeting Jean Kalinga, a woman whose family was from Malawi. Kalinga dreamed of building a preschool safe house in her country. Several years later – with the Zakreski’s help – the preschool was completed, along with a medical clinic.
Hope for Malawi plans to build three more schools in the next few years and Ndayishimiye is helping the organization recruit medical staff to volunteer there.
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