1: What are you trying to accomplish?
2: What's your evidence that you can accomplish it?
3: How is it possible that you can provide an open heart surgery in Iraq for less than $1,000? Is that the full cost?
4: So is that the same thing as saying that my donation doesn't really make a difference? That the "up to 85%" funded locally by those inside Iraq is all that is really necessary to make this work?
5: Any other costs?
6: What is the bottleneck to more surgeries: money or skilled labor?
7: I'm skeptical of non-profits and charities because they always seem to be asking for more money. How can I be sure that Preemptive Love Coalition has "room for more funding" and that I'm not paying into a huge savings account, "Rainy Day Fund", or something similar?
8: Do you have enough volunteer surgeons available for unfunded Remedy Missions? (i.e., are there trips that you could fund if you had more money, or is there a labor bottleneck?)
9: Many heart surgeries require follow-up treatment (including additional surgeries). Do you have a way of providing these to patients?
10: How do you assess whether surgeries are completed competently and appropriately?
11: What is the rate of complications during and following surgery?
12: How do you assess whether surgeons are performing additional surgeries that they would have not had the funding or motivation to perform otherwise?
13: How do you assess whether surgeons are charging their patients for the surgeries you fund?
14: Do you follow up with the surgeons you've trained to assess whether they are correctly applying their training?
15: What information is available on the activities - and competence - of the surgeons you've trained?
16: Where do surgeons work after completing training? Do they serve poor patients?
17: How much do you spend each year on "program" expenses and how much on "overhead?"


----------

 Q: What are you trying to accomplish?

A: Train Iraqi heart surgeons and nurses so they can eradicate the backlog of tens of thousands of Iraqi children waiting in line for lifesaving heart surgery. [Back to Top]

 Q: What's your evidence that you can accomplish it?

A: Each year we continue to increase Iraq's total number of pediatric cardiac surgeries with new surgeries in Iraqi centers that would not - indeed could not - have been accomplished otherwise. Ministry of Health (MOH) officials speculate 500 surgeries were accomplished in 2009 (of which we provided 23 - 4.6% - outside the country). The addition of our 82 surgeries in FY 2010 - to the 500 baseline - for a total of 582 approximated surgeries, represents an increase created by PLC of 14% over 2009. In FY 2011 we anticipate increasing Iraq's total number of pediatric cardiac surgeries to at least 719 (or another 19% over FY 2010 directly attributable to our surgeons and our training).

Each year the local teams with which we work will become more proficient, and each year they will independently take on a larger case load than they could have the year before. None of these figures yet account for that additional output.

In March 2010 the Iraqi Ministry of Health asked us to expand our work to three additional sites. In May 2010 we began additional discussions about establishing a fellowship program in which international surgeons and nurses would take up residence in the Iraqi system to train locally for 40 weeks out of the year.

Our model does not rely strictly on volunteers because the level of need in Iraq outstrips what we could reasonably supply through volunteer labor alone. Accordingly, we set our budgets so as to actually contract the international surgical and nursing staff we need to accomplish our mission.

Sure, this increases the cost-per-mission (and thereby, cost-per-child) over early "mission" models in which volunteerism was idealized and training was not necessarily prioritized. But our contract labor + volunteerism model is inarguably the only way to create a nationwide quarterly training program and fellowships inside Iraq with international experts across approximately 6-8 surgical sites. Moreover, our model does not face the same sluggishness of learning that other surgery organizations suffer because we do not have the same rates of turnover; we have incredible consistency across our programs and missions. [Back to Top]

 Q: How is it possible that you can provide an open heart surgery in Iraq for less than $1,000? Is that the full cost?

A: The "less than $1k" numbers we routinely publish represent the amount in "program costs" we spend from our international donor money. The figure does not necessarily account for every single management, overhead, or fundraising expense.

Our total expenditures for FY 2010 were $188,919. We performed 82 surgeries during the same period for a per child total of $2,304 (though this data is a bit moot moving into 2010-11 as we abandon our very expensive "surgery exports" program(s) in Turkey, etc. and focus henceforth on more cost-effective in-country surgeries alone).

When all of our Remedy Mission partners are taken into consideration - including the Iraqi Government, medical companies that donate medicines and supplies, and local organizations - the real Remedy Mission cost to all donors is in the range of $5,400 - $7,000. Put another way, up to 85% of the total cost of a single surgical/training mission is now subsidized by local, Iraqi constituent institutions. [Back to Top]

 Q: So is that the same thing as saying that my donation doesn't really make a difference? That the "up to 85%" funded locally by those inside Iraq is all that is really necessary to make this work?

A: There is not a single site across Iraq for which our Remedy Missions are fully funded. If we fail to provide our 15-19% of the overall budget, Remedy Missions fail, surgeons and nurses do not get trained regularly, on-site audits from our international team do not happen, up to 20 children are delayed from receiving surgery, and a few may even die or become inoperable. Your role in funding the remaining 15-19% is as critical in the short term as any other entity. A single Remedy Mission is binary - it either happens or it doesn't. Your money makes it happen. But our goal is to continue to graduate all our programs so they are 100% funded locally in the next 5-10 years. [Back to Top]

 Q: Any other costs?

A: Our numbers per Remedy Mission do not account for "indirect costs," such as the cost (or value) of our volunteer medical staff from around the world, costs to local healthcare systems, the cost of a family to travel to the surgery site, the opportunity costs of lost income for families as they wait for surgery, etc. The reason we think it's important to note this here is because lifesaving is actually quite difficult. Building a pediatric cardiac surgery system for the entire country of Iraq is laborious and full of complexities. [Back to Top]

 Q: What is the bottleneck to more surgeries: money or skilled labor?

A: People often assume that the biggest need is more Iraqi heart surgeons. We could use a few more, but the real bottleneck is skilled nurses, technicians, and non-surgical physicians. A surgeon is only as good as his support staff. One of our biggest challenges is training pediatric cardiac intensive care nurses. To date, we haven't found a better model than our Remedy Missions through which we bring quarterly hands-on training to local nurses (and surgeons) in Iraq. Rather than exporting the nurses to Europe or the USA for training (whose medical systems barely resemble the Iraqi system), we train them with what they have on hand in their local environment. [Back to Top]

 Q: I'm skeptical of non-profits and charities because they always seem to be asking for more money. How can I be sure that Preemptive Love Coalition has "room for more funding" and that I'm not paying into a huge savings account, "Rainy Day Fund", or something similar?

A: For the record, we are skeptical of non-profits as well! In 2012 PLC needs $350,000 on hand at any given time to cover our cash flow needs for up to three Remedy Missions per quarter. We are still 30% under-funded against that goal. In addition to cash flow needs, we still require 15-19% funding on most of our missions after local sources contribute their portion; we have un-funded pilot programs in new cities where local doctors have been requesting our help (but where weve yet to woo local philanthropists or health directors); and we have research and social service initiatives through our Followthrough program that require funding at present because we have not yet sought local funding for those initiatives (seeing as how they relate mostly to our Monitoring & Impact Evaluation objectives). Please see our "Funding Gap" page to look deeper into our anticipated program costs, the sources of funding we are counting on, and the funding gap between the two for the next few years. [Back to Top]

 Q: Do you have enough volunteer surgeons available for unfunded Remedy Missions? (i.e., are there trips that you could fund if you had more money, or is there a labor bottleneck?)

A: Great question! We use a hybrid volunteer/staff model. Roughly 25-30% of any one of our Remedy Mission teams is employed by the International Children's Heart Foundation (typically the surgeon, scrub nurse, anesthesiologist, ICU doctor, and often a part-time ICU nurse). The remainder of the team typically comprises volunteer physicians, technicians, and nurses from across the world. Because the hardest-to-come-by positions are contract labor for us and NOT volunteers, we have never failed to run a mission for lack of personnel. We have only cancelled or turned down a request for a future mission due to lack of funding. [Back to Top]

 Q: Many heart surgeries require follow-up treatment (including additional surgeries). Do you have a way of providing these to patients?

A: Yes, we do. Our model dictates quarterly visits to each program site (a hospital inside a regional hub). Our reliance on local cardiologists ensures that the local team prioritizes and almost entirely sets the agenda for patient selection (within a development curricula) - after all, Iraqi doctors are the ones who are most intimately connected to the patients and their daily progress! When a local cardiologist sees a child who has either (1) deteriorated and requires another intervention or (2) advanced as expected to the next step of a complex, staged intervention, the child is prioritized for follow-up treatment. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeries are completed competently and appropriately?

A: Because we are a broker and play a combination administrative and financier role in the coalition of partners working in Iraq to develop pediatric cardiac care, we are able to stand in-between the local surgical team and the international surgical team (whom we contract as a third-party to train and perform surgeries in Iraq). If the local team or health directorate suspects a lack of competence in the international team, a cavalier attitude, or a single poor judgement call, our role is to be the go-between - to be the advocate for the local healthcare providers vis-a-vis the international surgical team.

Similarly, if the international surgical team feels pushed by the local surgical team to perform procedures with which they are uncomfortable or for which they think the local system is ill-prepared, they are able to refuse children for surgery and/or use us (PLC) as a go-between.

The checks-and-balance between the two teams helps us ensure surgeries are performed in a competent, appropriate manner. [Back to Top]

 Q: What is the rate of complications during and following surgery?

A: We report our in-hospital and 60-day mortality after each Remedy Mission. You can finds those numbers here. We also produce reports after each Remedy Mission detailing the trip, including data on intraoperative complications, post-operative complications, and mortality. You can find those reports here. We are also deliberately raising the funds necessary to help us bring our various heart hospitals into compliance with the International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Surgery in Developing Countries. If this kind of quality improvement and reporting initiative interests you, we are currently looking for financial partners for our Followthrough program. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeons are performing additional surgeries that they would have not had the funding or motivation to perform otherwise?

A: Pediatric heart surgery in Iraq is almost nonexistent without our work. There are two active programs for relatively simple surgeries (one in Erbil and one in Baghdad). Local surgeons claim that combined they perform no more than a few hundred pediatric surgeries a year. In every location where we work, pediatric heart surgery is effectively nonexistent. Therefore, every surgery performed at our program sites (both when we are present and when we are not) are "additional surgeries" that they would not have had the SKILL to perform without the FUNDING we employed to train them in their local environment. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeons are charging their patients for the surgeries you fund?

A: Because we work in public (government) hospitals - and because healthcare in Iraq is provided almost entirely free of charge - it is widely known that any cardiologist, surgeon, or administrator seeking compensation for services is acting outside of Iraqi law. [Back to Top]

 Q: Do you follow up with the surgeons you've trained to assess whether they are correctly applying their training?

A: We see them quarterly in their local environment and perform real-time audits of their skills, recollection of past training, application of new techniques, etc. Additionally, our international surgeon remains on call at any time via phone, Skype, or email for consultation. [Back to Top]

 Q: What information is available on the activities - and competence - of the surgeons you've trained?

A: Because our Remedy Mission training program only began in late 2010 - and pediatric heart surgery at our sites across Iraq is the same age - there is still relatively little independent practice to report, and therefore little data on the activities and competence of our surgeons and their teams. But as they begin performing more surgeries independently, we are trying to align each site/surgical team with the International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Surgery in Developing Countries (a data collection and tracking initiative of Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University). [Back to Top]

 Q: Where do surgeons work after completing training? Do they serve poor patients?

A: As of Q2 2011 there was only one private hospital in Iraq (to our knowledge) providing pediatric heart surgery (and those surgeries were on the lower end of the complexity scale). Our work does not necessarily mean to exclude private hospitals as they continue to come online and become viable options, but at present the government system has a better equipped foundation for training local surgical teams. As we look to fully graduate our local surgical teams in the next 5-10 years, we imagine that most of them will stay in the public sector for all of the stability, pensions, and benefits of loyalty provided to those who stick with it. But, undoubtedly, some will seek positions at private hospitals (assuming private hospitals are willing to invest in the requisite capital purchases necessary to establish a credible program). In the public sector, rich and poor are served alike. In the private sector, poorer patients would be at an obvious disadvantage. [Back to Top]

 Q: How much do you spend each year on "program" expenses and how much on "overhead?"

A: As a rule, we do not adhere to the model that claims that "overhead" is somehow bad and "program" is somehow good. There are very bad program expenses. There are overhead expenses that are excellent investments. We agree with Paul Brest, President of the Hewlett Foundation, when he said, "Achieving a low overhead ratio drives many charities to behaviors that make them less effective and means more, not less, wasted dollars." Therefore, we spend as much on overhead as we need to accomplish our mission. The mission itself is our North Star - not arbitrary (even harmful) standards about overhead-vs-program expenditures. For the record, however, you can find a current pie chart of our expenditures here (and if you're into that sort of thing, you'll probably be impressed!). [Back to Top]

Jeremy Courtney Founder, Executive Director Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney

“I'd love to hear any critique or questions you might have!”

DROP A NOTE OR DONATION BY MAIL: Preemptive Love Coalition 1300 Darbyton Dr. Hewitt, TX 76643 GIVE BY PHONE: To make a gift over the phone, using your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover), please call +1 (806) 853-9131 during normal business hours. IRAQ OFFICE: +964 770-355-6298 (local)

Featured Partner: Emily Potts Photography

February 19, 2011 by matt · 1 Comment 

Emily Potts Photography recently hosted a “Have a Heart” event to raise funds and awareness for our work, and the owner, Emily, (on the right) and her assistant, Danielle, (left) have kindly obliged us with an interview.

PLC: Thanks ladies! Would you mind introducing yourselves to the rest of the Coalition?

Emily: Emily Potts Photography is a boutique portrait studio located in Bartlesville, OK. I’m the owner and photographer and Danielle is one of my super-awesome assistants! We’re both both mothers of small boys and love our families like crazy! We’re also excited about an upcoming expansion of the business and have big ideas for my little studio.

PLC: How did you first hear about our work?

Danielle: I first heard about Preemptive Love Coalition and Buy Shoes. Save Lives. on the radio. I looked it up and found that I knew PLC’s co-founder, Jeremy Courtney, from college. I was so inspired that I spread the word to family and friends, and Emily immediately jumped in with ideas about how to support PLC.

Emily: I heard about PLC from Danielle.

PLC: What is it that motivates you toward compassion for Iraqi children?

E & D: As moms we can only imagine what it must be like for these children and parents to be faced with a life-threatening illness and have no solution. Joining PLC is an amazing opportunity to offer a source of hope for parents facing such a huge trial.

PLC: Is there anything you would like to tell the rest of the Coalition? Any rally cries, encouragements, or challenges?

D & E: We’re so impressed with how generously all of you give of yourselves. We pray for continued awareness of your cause and for all of the families your work is touching. We know there must be times when it feels like this is such an overwhelming process, but we know your work makes such a huge impact on the families you are able to help. We feel so blessed to be just a little part of what you guys do!

————

Thanks, ladies. Definitely take a minute to check out Emily’s website – she takes excellent photos!

And if you’re new here, you should know that most of our supporters are lot like Emily and Danielle. This Coalition consists of hundreds of everyday people who are using their time, creativity, and finances to provide healthy hearts to sick children. There’s no Daddy Warbucks bankrolling our operation – it’s just people like you!

So why not join Emily and Danielle in helping? If you have a small business, click here to learn more about how your small business can make a HUGE difference in the lives of these children!

There is no Coalition without you,

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As PLC's Press Secretary, Matt Willingham writes, reads, edits, tweets, updates, and works with a camera so as to connect hearts and minds to Iraqi children in need. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up and exploring DSLR work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

His Heart Condition is Threatening His Life – Have You Met Alawi?

February 18, 2011 by Jeremy · 860 Comments 

You need to.

This just may be the cutest and most adorable boy in Iraq.

Alawi Hussein is just under three and a half years old and he was born with a congenital heart defect.

At 9 months old, instead of taking bets on what his first word was going to be, his parents were coping with the devastating news that Alawi had a heart problem. It was a heart problem, like most heart problems in Iraq, that could only be fixed outside of Iraq.

The list of countries that could help him was long.

Iran.

Turkey.

Jordan.

India.

America.

Basically – many other countries except the one he was born in.

While the list of opportunities was long, the list of actual possibilities for Alawi was short.

Hearing about all the doctors overseas that can heal your son is simply cruel if you don’t have the money – or even a passport – to pursue the option.

His family had to learn to enjoy the time they had with Alawi and just hope for a remedy the doctors might have somehow missed.

That surprise came this month when they were called by their local cardiologist here in southern Iraq and told that Alawi no longer needs to go overseas to be saved, because of a team of doctors and nurses that was being brought in to save his life at the hospital just fifteen minutes from their home

It was thirty-two months later than they were hoping but remedy finally came to southern Iraq.

We still hope that Alawi’s family will visit foreign countries someday, but not as last chance medical tourists!

You are the Remedy.

You bring in medical teams every time you give. Our medical teams teach Iraqi doctors and nurses. Our medical teams save lives. So Iraqi doctors and nurses learn how to save lives. Our medical team goes home. The Iraqi’s keep saving lives.

It’s one beautiful domino affect!

We hope we can save Alawi’s life this week… and not just because he’s one of the cutest boys in Iraq! Follow Alawi’s story this week on the blog and on our Facebook page (<-- link) to see what comes next...

Our Partners

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. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @JCourt.

Meet Ali. He Finally Got His Lifesaving Surgery on Our Second Trip to Southern Iraq

February 17, 2011 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Ali gets his surgery as the first child during our February 2011 Remedy Mission to southern Iraq.

An interview with Cody Fisher about his first encounter with Ali and the journey to where he is today.

Push play above to meet little Ali….

With you,

If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove.

Our Partners

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. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @JCourt.

Overwhelmed by 350 kids on Local Waiting List as Remedy Rolls into Southern Iraq to Train Locals

February 16, 2011 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

It’s been a long journey from our home in northern to southern Iraq but we just can’t stay away – the doctors, nurses, and people here want their own fully functioning heart surgery center so badly!

Today marks the end of Remedy Mission Day #1 with the International Children’s Heart Foundation and Living Light International.

Push play above for a quick overview of day one and a setup of what’s to come this week from southern Iraq….

With you,

If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq this week via @preemptivelove.

Our Partners

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. Follow Jeremy on Twitter: @JCourt.

What Would You Do If The World Was For You?

February 15, 2011 by Cody · Comments Off 

What if you lived in one of the most beautiful places on earth?

A place so beautiful and full of history that it was known for being the birthplace of civilization, the place where some say the Garden of Eden once was?

And what would you do if others came along and deliberately destroyed it all in the hopes that you would be destroyed in the process?

Right now, Remedy is taking place in a region of southern Iraq where they had to answer those questions.

Southern Iraq was once the location of some of the largest and most magnificent wetlands in the world. Today, nearly all of those wetlands have been turned into one of the greatest and most devastating environmental disasters in history.

Following the 1991 Gulf War, the Marsh Arabs, who’s lives were literally built on the marshes, rose up and united with much of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein in the hope of reclaiming their freedom. In response, Saddam blanketed the south with chemicals, land mines, and sent down engineers to drain and dam up the lifeline for the marshes.

Saddam Hussein deliberately worked against the people of southern Iraq while the world looked on.

What would you do if the world seemed to be against you?

But what would you do if the world was for you?

What if someone came alongside you and promised to work with you and for you instead of against you?

Remedy gives us the chance to do exactly that. It gives us the opportunity to save the lives of thousands while raising up pediatric heart centers across Iraq.

 

It gives us the opportunity to love.

 Will you join us? Together, we can continue to come alongside the people of southern Iraq and show them the Remedy by helping provide their children with life-saving heart surgeries and train their local doctors and nurses.

Come join us on Facebook to learn more about southern Iraq and those you’re impacting through this Remedy Mission!

Our Partners

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

We’re Kicking Off Our Third Remedy Mission!

February 14, 2011 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

Today we were welcomed back to southern Iraq by the entire team of local doctors!

As they were welcoming back their teachers and mentors from the first Remedy Mission, one doctor said, “We are trying to give you honorary Iraqi citizenship so you never have to leave again!”

It’s a fun thought to think about them staying here but what’s more exciting is thinking about the day when foreign medical teams are no longer needed to come alongside the pediatric heart centers of Iraq.

All we know is that we may be just one Remedy Mission closer to that reality!

Valentine’s Day may not be the most romantic in Iraq but today it couldn’t have been more meaningful. No chocolate hearts or cupids, instead what was being passed around the room were medical reports as the ICHF surgical team sat down with local doctors and cardiologists and mapped out the next two weeks of surgeries!

The children on the top of the list were the ones they had to turn away from our first Remedy Mission in southern Iraq, simply because they ran out of hours in the day.

We’re all eagerly awaiting these next two weeks as tomorrow we will witness the first of over 20 life-saving operations and the first of thousands of hours of training given to the local Iraqi medical team.

Stay with us as we start our third Remedy Mission!

Our Partners

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Featured Partner: David Beccue

February 14, 2011 by matt · Leave a Comment 

This month’s featured Coalition member is David Beccue.

Working internationally as a software engineer and business owner, his chief aspiration is to know, love, and serve GOD well with what he’s been given.

He also shares our Core Value of all-inclusive care: “I’m really attracted to the model of addressing people’s needs so holistically: health, spirit, vocation, politics, worldview, etc.”

But that love for the whole person isn’t just a pithy abstraction. For David, caring for others begins with the person next door and extends outward:

“Continue to love people around you, but don’t neglect getting involved in ministering to the whole world as well. Organizations like PLC are a great way to lengthen your arms to serve people where your legs don’t travel.”

So if you haven’t perused our Core Values lately, I’d encourage you to go check them out. We want you to know exactly what the Coalition is all about and what we’re asking you to take part in. Then, if you like what you see, go add us on Facebook so we can stay in touch.

There is no Coalition without you!

As PLC's Press Secretary, Matt Willingham writes, reads, edits, tweets, updates, and works with a camera so as to connect hearts and minds to Iraqi children in need. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up and exploring DSLR work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Better Februarys

February 5, 2011 by matt · Leave a Comment 

I’ve honestly never been big on the month of February.

I mean, it’s the hardest month to pronounce (is the “r” silent!?), there’s all the V-Day drama/expectations, and then, of course, February is when they bring out the sweetened little heartshaped Altoids with all the stalker-ish messages on them.

But allow me to introduce you to something that will forever improve your Februarys: CHD Awareness Week!

Thousands of people from all over the world are spending the 7th through the 14th spreading awareness about the world’s most common birth defect, and we’re joining them! If you’re new to our site and don’t know what we do, the Preemptive Love Coalition seeks to eradicate the 30,000+ backlog of Iraqi children with congenital heart defects.

So take a minute to read up on CHD in Iraq, and make sure to add CHD Awareness Week on Facebook or check out their website.

Here’s to a better February and healthier children!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

As PLC's Press Secretary, Matt Willingham writes, reads, edits, tweets, updates, and works with a camera so as to connect hearts and minds to Iraqi children in need. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up and exploring DSLR work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

« Previous Page

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER






Get our good news stories straight into your reader or inbox for free!


OUR BLOGGERS

	Matt Willingham is the PLC press secretary and writes primarily on politics, history, general updates and visual peacemaking through photography and film.
	Cody Fisher is a PLC cofounder and writes primarily on program development and peacemaking by giving us a lens into the lives of the real people we love.
	Jeremy Courtney is a PLC cofounder and writes primarily to emphasize our vision and values, including organizational and financial transparency.

Preemptive Love Coalition provides lifesaving heart surgeries for Iraqi kids in pursuit of peace between communities at odds. We offer the 30,000 Iraqi children suffering from life-threatening heart defects a chance at the surgery they need to save their lives. With our world-class international surgical partners we create long-term solutions by training local Iraqi doctors and nurses so they can sustainably save lives without our help.

• Popular Tags

  Amman Arab Baghdad BSSL Buy Shoes. Save Lives. buyshoessavelives CHD children Congenital Heart Disease Development echocardiogram God heart heart disease heart surgeries Heart Surgery hope hospital Hussein ICHF ICU Internship Iraq Iraqi children Istanbul Jeremy Courtney Jordan Klash Kurd Kurdish Kurdistan nasiriyah peace Peacemaking PLC remedy Remedy Mission Rezhin saddam hussein Southern Iraq sulaymaniyah Surgery Tarza Turkey Wordless Wednesday

• Archives

  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007

• Contributors

  • Adam Brandt (4)
  • Alex Phillips (10)
  • Anton Warkenton (1)
  • Awara Hassan (6)
  • Behar Godani (1)
  • Benjamin Chasnov (1)
  • Cayla Willingham (3)
  • Claire Baker (1)
  • Cody Fisher (102)
  • Esther Perez (6)
  • Jeremy Courtney (87)
  • Jessica Courtney (20)
  • Joshua Gigliotti (23)
  • Lauren Sawyer (2)
  • Liz Jones (1)
  • Lydia Bullock (52)
  • Matt Willingham (77)
  • Preston Wright (4)
  • Ruth Simpson (16)
  • Ryan Rosenberry (2)
  • Sophia Pappas (6)
  • Ted Harrison (3)
  • Tim Mason (1)