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HELLO! joins Margaret and Sophie Trudeau on Africa trip

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2 MAY 2007

When Margaret Trudeau and her daughter-in-law Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau set off on their recent groundbreaking humanitarian trip to Africa they invited HELLO! magazine to accompany them. And now their mission to Ethiopia, to bring clean drinking water to some of the world's most impoverished people with the help of the Watercan organization, is depicted in an exclusive photojournal in this week's issue of the magazine.



The former wife of late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has made two previous trips to Uganda with the charitable group, and says the continent holds a special place in her heart. "Africa has given me life-altering experiences," she writes in a personal diary of the trip which she shares exclusively with HELLO!. "Mother Africa comforted me while I mourned the passing of (my son). I opened a well in his name, which healed my broken spirit," adds the mum of five, who lost her 23-year-old son Michel in a 1998 avalanche accident.

Included in the magazine feature is a series of intimate photos of Margaret and Sophie's meeting with the villagers, which gives a glimpse into the emotional journey which further strengthened the bond between the two women. "Since first meeting her, I have loved her like a daughter," says the Vancouver-born beauty of daughter-in-law Sophie, who is expecting her first child with husband Justin. "She is full of life and so well-loved."

Sophie, meanwhile, shares her thoughts on the Ethiopian children she met, for whom she holds so much hope. "The kids amaze me," said CTV's Quebec eTalk correspondent. "I find myself in a state of divine peacefulness; profound happiness. It's like the kids are feeding me energy and hope."

For more fabulous photos and an inside glimpse at the life-changing journey see the exclusive photojournal and report in Issue 35 of HELLO! magazine on Canadian newsstands from Thursday, May 3.

A CTV documentary on the pair's trip entitled A Window Opens: Margaret And Sophie In Ethiopia airs on May 12.