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Three Iraqi Kids to Surgery Tonight

May 23, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment 

Tonight at 3 a.m. 3 Iraqi kids and one parent each will board a plane with representatives of the Preemptive Love Coalition to travel to life-saving heart surgery in Istanbul, Turkey.

Accompanying the group will be filmmaker Michael Dalton and photographer Matt Addington. You can view some of their documentary work about these children and the Preemptive Love Coalition at www.ToOpenYourEyes.com and below.

Roman

Heran

Shad

PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Addington (ToOpenYourEyes.com)

         

waiting their turn

September 24, 2008 by carrie · Leave a Comment 

 

Hevi, Shawna, Kale and Sara- four young girls bonded by a very unique, but shared experience. Four hearts, all with different defects, coming from Iraq, holding out hope. All four of them have had all of their preliminary medical tests done and are ready and waiting for their heart surgeries. With a few surgeons gone right now and other children on the list ahead of them, it could still be a few weeks before their turn comes. And when you’re 12 and 8 years old, waiting is hard- especially when they’re away from their home country and their families- and they’re anticipating this very life changing event.

Many thanks to our partner organization who takes such great care of these kids and their parents during these long waiting times. We’ll keep all of you in the loop as these girls head on into surgery in the coming weeks. You’re part of this with them. Thank you.

         

Introducing Kids Klash!

September 14, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

In all of the recent excitement over the last couple of months about our internship program, expanding partnerships in the US, and, most of all, even more kids who are returning home with healed hearts, we’ve barely mentioned an exciting new product that will help the Preemptive Love Coalition fulfill its mission to fund heart surgeries for the no less than 3,000 children in Iraq who are dying on a waiting list.

Kids Klash are a great way to help younger kids connect with the lives of their global peers. Many of the kids on the surgery waiting list are between the ages of 1 and 6—the same age range that will be able to enjoy wearing Kids Klash. When a child has the chance to wear a great handmade shoe, it provides an opportunity to teach them about the wider world and the challenges of poverty and conflict faced by kids like them around the world. It’s not quite walking a kilometer in someone else’s shoes, but it’s at least a start.

Kids Klash don’t just help build perspective—they make a real difference, too. These shoes are handmade over the course of 20 hours per pair by village cooperatives, by prisoners seeking to rehabilitate their lives, and by victims of landmines seeking a living wage. Each purchase invests money in their economy. And, even more, each purchase helps to fund a heart surgery for one of the 3,000 Iraqi children waiting for the chance to live.

With a lower price (only $25!) and a more kid-friendly rubber sole (water and washing are no problem now), Kids Klash are a perfect way to change lives and save lives.

CLICK HERE TO BUY KIDS KLASH NOW!

         

Shkar returning to Iraq

September 8, 2008 by carrie · Leave a Comment 

Shkar, who underwent heart surgery on August 6th, has been healing rapidly and is already on his way back home to Iraq with his mother. The doctors cleared Shkar to return home after they had conducted the final echo-cardiogram and removed the last stitches. The surgeons reported that Shkars heart surgery was relatively easy, compared to other cases, so his recovery has been pretty fast. We’re excited for Shkar to return home and start living life with a strong heart!

         

PLC Alumni Banquet for Now Healthy Iraqi Kids

September 2, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

         

Two PLC Documentarians in the News (VA)

August 28, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

In November two documentarians are planning a trip to Iraq to join PLC in telling the story of 3,000 children sitting on a waiting list for the help they need to get outside the country to receive heart surgery and a chance at adolescence and adulthood. The Virginia-based Danville Register and Bee tells their story.

READ IT HERE.

         

Shkar recovering from successful surgery!

August 12, 2008 by bobby · 1 Comment 

Shkar underwent 2 surgeries in the past few days to fully correct the problems with his heart. After many long hours in surgery and his mother pacing the halls, Shkar is now recovering and able to walk around a bit. Today, Shkar and his mother called their family back home in Iraq to tell them about the successful surgery. The outlook for Shkar is so bright and he and his mother are so thankful for everyone who has been part of this hope-filled journey!

         

PLC Gives $12,500

July 14, 2008 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Thanks to a series of summer fundraising events in the States, the friends of PLC have raised at least $12,500 for heart surgeries to go to Iraqi children. Money is still coming in, but we’ve applied the first round to the sweet kids below who will now be able to travel next week to heart surgery outside of Iraq thanks to the kind kids and their parents who gave this summer so that others could live!

Shkar, 6 years old

Shkar’s case is very urgent and has recently caused him a great deal of difficulty breathing. His surgery is long-overdue, but doctors believe that he can still have a normal life. We plan for Shkar to be in surgery July 2008.

Hevi, 12 years old

Hevi has a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, a combination of four anatomical abnormalities. Thankfully, doctors believe she can be fully healed and lead a ‘new life.’ We plan for her to be in surgery July 2008.

Shanaw, 12 years old

Shanaw’s case is very urgent. Though it’s difficult to see under the face-painting you see in the picture, Shanaw’s skin is very blue due to a severe valvular obstruction in her heart. Doctors believe she can be cured through surgery and go on to a healthy, normal life. Shanaw has received all her funding now and we plan for her to be in surgery July 2008.

Kale, 8 years old

Kale’s family keeps calling to remind our partnering organization that their little girl still needs help. Her favorite subject in second grade is English… We’re eager to follow up with her when she returns from her surgery. You can write notes to Kale in simple English here. Kale has received all her funding now and we plan for her to be in surgery July 2008.

Sarah, 8 years old

The cardiologist at the March 2008 screening found that the heart of this frail little girl can be fully restored through surgery. Her internal organs are all on the wrong side (situs inversus) - sometimes surgeons will use a mirror to operate in this case! We hope to have her in surgery in July.

         

PLC Gives $5,000 for Two Surgeries

July 10, 2008 by Jeremy · 1 Comment 

Your purchases and donations continue to spur on and encourage local Iraqi NGOs to stand beside us as we help their children. In conjunction with Kurdistan Save the Children we’ve just sent another $5,000 Iraqi heart surgeries outside the country!

Kale, 12 years old

Kale has cerebral palsy but constantly has a huge smile.  It is wonderful to see her mom put so much concern into her daughter in a culture where the mentally challenged are often abandoned. Kale had a large hole, 2.5 centimeters, in her upper ventricle. We helped send Kale to surgery on February 20th but she is only now receiving the money she needed for her surgery. With our partnering organization, we went ahead and pushed her surgery through and Kale returned to Iraq on May 6, 2008 with a healthy heart.

Sarah, 8 years old

The cardiologist at the March 2008 screening found that the heart of this frail little girl can be fully restored through surgery. Her internal organs are all on the wrong side (situs inversus) - sometimes surgeons will use a mirror to operate in this case! We hope to have her in surgery in July.

         

Happy Birthday, BSSL! Meet PLC!

July 7, 2008 by Jeremy · 1 Comment 

On July 7th, 2007 an amazing thing happened… a guy named Chad was the first of hundreds and hundreds of compassionate people to purchase the as-yet-unknown shoe called Klash. Chad and hundreds like him have given us the encouragement and confidence we’ve needed to keep selling Klash and using the proceeds to fund heart surgeries for Iraqi kids.

And as cliche as this is about to sound, lots of people thought we were crazy. Most thought it was a three week project that we would outgrow. Some thought it was a silly failure to comprehend the real needs of Iraqis. Indeed, at times we probably thought so ourselves. But as one month has turned to twelve, there is no denying the magnetic force behind the simplicity of our message.

The Preemptive Love Coalition, via the “Buy Shoes. Save Lives.” program, has now sent 13 kids to surgery, funding them at various stages along the way to the tune of $36,500. What a pretty tune! We raised and gave away an additional $16,000 for pre-op heart screenings and have money waiting for 6-7 kids that we plan on sending later this month.In 12 months we’ve invested nearly $22,000 into local klash-making economies, plus tens of thousands more into the broader economy as a by-product of operating our business. We’ve sold $33,000 of Klash across the US, UK, Europe, Africa and Australia, and have seen such a range of creativity exercised in helping these children that we sometimes just sit astounded at all you do!

One of the major developments of the past year is the way in which we’ve reorganized under the banner of The Preemptive Love Coalition. After 4 months of selling shoes to save lives we started realizing that we had more to say that “buy shoes. save lives.” We wanted to say “Love your enemies. Do good to those who do bad to you.” In a region where “tit for tat” is the predominant peacemaking method, we wanted to lead out with another option.

Our “this for that” model is as simple as encouraging those who would be with us to find something in their current environment and use it (”this”) in the service of the thousands and thousands of Iraqi who are waiting in a line for life-saving heart surgeries outside the country (”that”).”This for that” is also about giving back love for hate; kindness for oppression; truth for perceptions.

As we look forward to the coming year we envision moving deeper into the hurt of Iraq and working among the more oppressed and excluded groups of people. We want them to know that there is an entire movement of people in America and around the world who will not abide the ongoing retaliatory methods of “peacemaking” in the region. We are those who use all manner of “this” for that - for peace; for kindness; for truth.

We are The Preemptive Love Coalition. Thanks for being with us!

Jeremy, Cody, Michelle, Ruth, Scott, Bobby
Audrey, Angel, Chris, Colby, Jesse, Peter (THE INTERNS)

         

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