Emmanuel Kelly, Saved by the Missionaries of Charity during the conflict, and adopted together with his brother by an Australian Catholic, carries on his body the marks of chemical warfare. His audition for a popular Australian reality show moves audiences: five million hits on Youtube.

Melbourne (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The video of a young Iraqi, Emmanuel Kelly, auditioning for a popular Australian reality TV show has become a Youtube sensation with upwards of five million visits. Emmanuel’s story which he tells before beginning his audition is truly moving, how his life was changed by the sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and an Australian Catholic foster mother.

Emmanuel does not know when he was born, but he does know that he owes his life to the nuns who found him, along with his brother Ahmed as infants. "We were left in a war zone, in a shoe box," he recalls. The brothers retain traces of the chemical warfare in Iraq, suffering a variety of malformations of their arms and legs.

Moira Kelly, a well-known Australian Catholic dedicated to humanitarian work, and who has worked for years with Mother Teresa of Calcutta, saw the two children in the Missionaries of Charity orphanage in Baghdad, adopted them and raised them in Australia, where they recieved care and rehabilitation. Kelly decided to devote her life to charity when, as a child, she saw a documentary on the work of Mother Teresa. Today she runs the charity Children First Foundation.

Emmanuel loves to sing. His audition for the reality show was the most applauded. His brother Ahmed, aims to reach the Paralympics in London in 2012. Emmanuel was unable to reach the final because of the jury decision, which resulted in vehement protests by viewers, but he had the satisfaction of becoming a smash hit on YouTube.

If you want to see and hear his audition, here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UVUzAUiEMY  

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