São Paulo – This Sunday (09), the Lebanese immigrant Mustapha Abdouni was honored by the Antiochian Orthodox Church at the Orthodox Cathedral, in São Paulo. He was awarded the Patriarchal Commendation of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, granted by the Patriarch and primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, John X, on a request by the Metropolitan Archbishop of São Paulo and Brazil, Dom Damaskinos Mansour.
The commendation was handed to Abdouni, who is a Muslim, for his life’s work, with the services on behalf of the community, his humanitarian, social and charitable actions. According to the Cathedral, Dom Damaskinos said in Sunday’s ceremony that, despite being a religious commendation, it honors not the person’s religion, but the person’s life, his commendable works and his social actions for the community.
“As a Muslim, I was honored and elated to receive this tribute by the Orthodox Church. It represents the peaceful coexistence between the religions in Brazil,” said Abdouni in an interview to ANBA. Alongside Mustapha Abdouni, Maria Rosa Sucar Dib and Haydêe Jabra Salem, members of the Orthodox community known for their social work, also received the commendation.
Abdouni was born in Sultan Yacoub, Lebanon, and came to Brazil when he was 14 years old, with his parents and sister. In São Caetano do Sul, in the São Paulo metro area, he and his father worked as door-to-door salesmen and, later, opened a textile company, which has grown and is still controlled by the family, now managed by the third generation. “I live fully in this Brazil, where I married a Lebanese woman, Fauzie Mokadem, and had five children: Mohamed, Soraya, Nadia, Omar and Munir.”
The social volunteer work by the Lebanese immigrant in Brazil is extensive and includes from his time as a member of the board of directors and now currently as a member of the management council of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, to his work in the Rotary Club in São Caetano do Sul, where Abdouni was the president for a two-year term, a period where the organization built the non-profit charity association Lar Menino Jesus, which provides care for vulnerable children, among other social actions.
Abdouni was also the president of the Trade Association of São Caetano do Sul and of the Association Friends of the Military Police of ABC Metro Area. He was also a part of the Association of Alumni of the War College (ADESG), a solidarity organization, and many other Muslim organizations of social volunteer work.
The Lebanese immigrant has always had an active role doing social volunteer works in his city, São Caetano do Sul, and was honored many times for this, among them the title of Cidadão Sul-Sancaetanense (Citizen of São Caetano do Sul). Abdouni was awarded the title of Goodwill Ambassador by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the implementation of a project that brought solar-powered street lighting for the city of Sultan Yacoub.
In 1994, Abdouni was appointed as honorary consul of Jordan in São Paulo by King Hussein, a post he still holds at 82 years of age. Around two years ago, the Qatar-based TV channel Al Jazeera interviewed him in a program on immigrants. In his interview to ANBA, the businessman said he is greatly honored to receive the commendation given to him by the Orthodox Church and said that it holds a special meaning to him. “I really like this peaceful coexistence and really hopes that in Lebanon we can also have this,” said Abdouni.
Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
