Toulouse. Adel Ghali continues the work of Sister Emmanuelle
For more than thirty years, Doctor Ghali supported Sister Emmanuelle with the ragpickers of Cairo. A heroic journey that he recounts in his book: “The Call of the Kingdom”. Meet.
Passing through Toulouse, in the privacy of the San Subra chapel, Doctor Adel Ghali has a setting of simplicity that suits his humility. Yet this man of heart and action had a major role in Sister Emmanuelle’s action towards the most disadvantaged. Yesterday, he delivered anecdotes to the people of Toulouse, but also a poignant testimony of his commitment alongside the French nun in the Egyptian slums. A work that this Coptic Egyptian doctor continues today, thirteen years after the death of Sister Emmanuelle, in 2008. In order not to abandon the ragpickers of Cairo and to pay homage to the one to whom he has great admiration, he publishes “L “Appel du Royaune”, published by Artège.
“I would never have thought of writing this book one day, but I did it in homage to this incredible woman that was Sister Emmanuelle with the support of SOS Chrétiens d’Orient”, explains Dr Ghali. “It was a gift to the ragpickers in Cairo. It saved the lives of 100,000 people in three slums in the Egyptian capital. In forty years, it changed their lives. These people who lived in extreme poverty at eight or ten in cabins of 4 m2 now have solid houses with water and electricity. It is thanks to her “.
From their meeting in a church in Cairo, he remembers his empress so that he could go and take care of the poorest. “She asked me to go see her and immediately we are in consultation. At the beginning, she comes with me to make the visits to the sick and then very quickly she found a hut which she arranged herself to do. consultations. She said: this is our first luxury clinic! “
Since then, a maternity hospital has been built, then a hospital and more recently two retirement homes, not to mention a school which accommodates 3,000 students.
“His daydream did wonders,” says Dr Ghali. “The dream was stronger than misery. Love stronger than death”.