The Embassy

February 29, 2008 by Jeremy 

The Embassy

Today we had a meeting with US Embassy brass working in the North. We initiated the contact a few weeks ago while seeking out funding for an art exhibition we are hosting here in April through Buy Shoes. Save Lives.

Since we’re committed to keeping all our profits for heart surgeries, we needed to seek outside funding for the art gallery - the primary purpose of which is to raise awareness of Kurdish art and mobilize civil society to play a helping role in the reconstruction process.

We were very encouraged by the response of the Embassy’s team to Buy Shoes. Save Lives. in general, and the proposal for the art exhibition in particular. The only two criticisms they had was that our budget was too small and that our venue was too small.

We are specifically asking for the Embassy to send a delegation to the installation, so I think the security concerns surrounding a high profile diplomat entering a crowded bazar for a photo op was on their minds.

The best hint of their approval for the project came when they requested a second meeting with us a few hours later to reformat the proposal into beuarocrat-speak and further discuss the implications of USAID funding for a for-profit business.

In our off hours between meetings we beefed up our marketing budget and will likely be pursuing an even higher profile for the event as a result.

Among the most exciting things was their eagerness to lend their name to the event and their insistence that they help us deliver invitations to all the appropriate ministers and diplomats on our list.

On a personal level, one of the suits was interested to hear more due to the fact that his son suffered from a hole in his heart as a child and was adversely affected by the limited healthcare available in East Asia where they were living at the time.

In other BSSL news, the Relevant Magazine interview we did is finishing its run on stands this week and has single-handedly produced almost $10,000 in sales!

Thanks for tracking with us!

J

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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future.

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