Yabiladi talks about LIFE ONG

Yabiladi and Sahafati.com Dressent an inspiring portrait of the president of our NGO LIFE in the article “Tarek El Kahodi, the vision that takes over the view.” His career, his motivations, his goals are highlighted there.

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We reveal a few words about it to you.

Born with a severe visual impairment, Tarek El Kahodi refused to be held back by this disability. From childhood, doctors predicted that it would be difficult for him to follow a traditional school curriculum, let alone succeed in the field of his choice. However, it was this adversity that prompted him to defy expectations and embark on a career as a computer engineer, thereby proving to everyone that he could achieve his goals.

After obtaining his baccalaureate in 1998, he pursued a BTS in software development and quickly became an engineer, an achievement achieved thanks to his tenacity and his self-learning. He works for large companies such as Orange and prestigious French institutions such as the Ministries of Defense and the Interior. However, despite these professional successes, he seeks to find a deeper meaning in his life. This need pushes him to join the LIFE association in 2009, when it was still only a local initiative.

Under his impetus, it, initially focused on the distribution of basic necessities to disadvantaged populations, expanded rapidly. Now an international NGO, it now operates in more than 25 countries.. His projects include Well drilling to provide drinking water, the distribution of school kits, the promotion of education, Food aid, and environmental protection. With a team of 40 employees and the support of 180,000 donors, it has already completed 4,000 projects around the world. Tarek, now president of LIFE, highlights the importance of this growth to meet the increasingly urgent needs of vulnerable communities.

One of the outstanding examples of the commitment of Tarek and LIFE is their intervention after the earthquake in Al Haouz, Morocco, in 2023.
In the first hours following the disaster, the NGO launched a fundraising campaign which raised one million euros. This money was used to provide emergency assistance in the form of food, blankets and basic necessities. But LIFE did not stop there: in one month, the association built 12 wooden schools in the affected sectors, in order to ensure a rapid resumption of education. This choice of ecological materials testifies to a desire to respect the environment while meeting the needs of disaster victims.

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In addition to schools, LIFE also built 1,800 prefabricated houses for teachers and residents in affected rural areas. This project was carried out in collaboration with local partners, including the Ouled El Kheir association. Tarek sees in these actions much more than a simple response to a disaster: it is about offering a future to these populations, to restore their dignity and their hope.

Today, Tarek El Kahodi, at 47, devotes his life to LIFE, having left the engineering field to invest fully in charity. Her commitment is as personal as it is altruistic. He recalls the words of an old man, who, as a child, predicted to his mother that he would become an important person.

With a smile, Tarek acknowledges that this prediction has come true, not through his material successes, but through his ability to change lives through his humanitarian work. For him, helping others has become a life mission, a way to give meaning to his career.

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