Career
Bedri was present at the battle of Omdurman, where the Mahdist army was destroyed. After the battle he migrated to Rufaa, a small town in the region of the Blue Nile, where he founded the first school for girls in Sudan in 1907 and named it “al Ahfad”. Initially it took place at his home, and consisted of the daughters of neighbours.
The school was inspected by Currie, the Condominium Director of Education, and found satisfactory, and received a subsidy thereafter.
His ideas about girls’ education were strongly opposed by older Sudanese who were suspicious of idea of sending girls to school. The main direction of the schooling was towards better nutrition and healthcare, with a view to ensuring healthier children.
His autobiography My Life, considered a Sudanese classic, is an important reference on the Sudan history in the Mahdiste era and during the British colonization. His great-granddaughter is the distinguished British Broadcasting Corporation news presenter and broadcaster Zeinab Badawi.