Saturday, August 18, 2012

Paralympic heroes get ready for their day

As the strains of the London Olympics’ closing ceremony fade, eyes now turn to the Paralympics and one story to emerge already is that of an orphan who was raised by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Baghdad.  

He is to compete in a sprint swimming event at the London Paralympics that start August 29.

Ahmed Kelly was adopted in Australia at the age of nine. He plans to race in the 50m breaststroke and has already broken a world record twice at 100m. He was born with severely underdeveloped arms and legs and was abandoned outside the Sisters’ orphanage in Baghdad and raised there until he was adopted. 

He and his brother were adopted by Moira Kelly, an Australian humanitarian worker.  

In Australia he had surgery on his legs and, fitted with prosthetic limbs, and played Aussie rules football for his school and club before taking up swimming.

Moira Kelly, who founded the Children First Foundation, was inspired by Mother Teresa to become an aid worker. Ahmed’s brother, Emmanuel, starred in the US version of The X Factor.

Moira Kelly is something of a legend herself and her actions and her fundraising efforts have saved countless lives and improved communities. She was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1964. Her life of serving the needy began when she was only eight years old.  

Inspired to make a difference after viewing a documentary on Mother Teresa, she hopped the fence that separated her primary school and the neighbouring special needs school where she helped feed and engage with children during her lunch break.  

Her life has been dedicated to others in Australia; special needs children, troubled youth and impoverished Aboriginal children.  

“The greatest act of kindness changes generations.  Wherever there is the greatest evil, the greatest good can be achieved,” Moira Kelly once said.

She also travelled far and wide and served alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta; worked with Kalahari bushmen; in South Africa she served intellectually impaired students; in Albania started a school for children who were classified by their race as foreigners; and in the Bronx she nursed crack babies.  

The list is endless.

In 1999 Moira Kelly returned to Australia and started a non-profit organisation providing transportation and healthcare for children with urgent needs in developing countries.  

The Children First Foundation raises funds for the transportation of children to Western doctors, surgeons and specialists in Australia, Canada, the United States and Ireland.

In the past two decades, the foundation has been responsible for the medical evacuation and treatment of over 200 impoverished children from dozens of countries.  

The Foundation has also purchased a farm outside of Melbourne with a dormitory for children in need of extensive rehabilitation. 

After their treatment and rehabilitation, they are returned to their communities in their native homes and often provided with additional services such as funding for housing and education.

Moira is hands on to this day. She has adopted some of the children who came from orphanages, including Ahmed, who will compete in the Paralympics in the coming weeks.