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Kamal Tadros
Responsible of all projects, Secretary of Saint Vincent de Paul Society (SVDP)
Age: 73
Place of birth: Atbara
Ethnic origin: Southern Egypt
Catholic
Married, 1 child, 4 grand-children
Fluent in English
Joined SVDP in the seventies, and very soon became its National Secretary; received two medals from the Pope Paul VI.
Professional background: He worked for about 30 years as chief accountant for Shell. During this time he received several job offers that would have allowed him to settle in different countries (Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Yemen, USA), but he turned all of them down to stay in Sudan. In 1978 he left the Shell Company to launch, with his brother-in-law, a business importing spare parts for vehicles. Very soon this business became prosperous.
He was the eldest of a Sudanese family of ten children. His father was an agent of an English company importing gum arabic. At 13, he had to leave school to help his father support the family. Thanks to his dedication, all his brothers and sisters were able to continue their education, and some of them became doctors or famous surgeons.
In 1979 he was ordained a deacon of the Catholic Church. In 1985 he met Sister Emmanuelle during her stay in Sudan. She asked him to leave his job to care for the street children. The following day, he decided to agree to take this leap.
Thus in 1986 was officially opened the first home for orphaned boys which Kamal had literally fetched from the streets.
The same year he was appointed Headmaster of the Archbishop’s schools located in the IDP camps. Thanks to his efforts, and the significant support of the Sister Emmanuelle Associations in Europe and various religious institutions, the number of children benefiting from this program increased ten-fold within 15 years, reaching 70000 in early 2000. Teachers were trained during summer sessions, and the academic achievements of the children living in the camps turned out to be excellent.
Unfortunately, Kamal and SVDP had to endure all sorts of harassment and pressure from the Islamic government. One year, 17 schools were destroyed for various reasons. But, refusing to give up, Kamal and his team rebuilt the schools elsewhere.
In 1993 Kamal was also appointed Director of the committee in charge of organizing the program for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Khartoum. The authorities worked hard to make this event a failure, but the organization turned out to be a big success, and the Pope's visit was unforgettable.
In 1994 Kamal was jailed for two weeks under very hard conditions. After Sister Emmanuelle's personal intervention with the President of the country, order was eventually given to release him and to stop all threats and abuses.
In 2002 Kamal decided to resign from his post as Education Headmaster for the Archdiocese in order to devote himself entirely to the programs of SVDP. |
