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?"


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 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)

“He may only have days to live, but I think we can save him”— A Life Saved At The Last Minute

April 16, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

One of my favorite things about Dr. Kirk and his team is how big-hearted they are. Local families can sense the sincerity of their compassion, and it makes a big difference in the ‘feel’ of the mission.

It’s that same compassion, though, that had us crammed into an echo lab/storage closet at midnight last night, looking at children’s hearts, and it’s that compassion that kept admitting one more family for screening.

“Please, just help one more.” is a hard request to ignore when it’s shouted from a waiting room packed and pleading. In this case, the request came for a little boy named Abraham.

Scratching his chin, Abe’s uncle tried to remember when it started: “For about two months we were basically living in the hospital.”

The entire family rallied around this little boy as he spent nearly two months in the hospital, struggling to breathe. The doctor in Abe’s hometown told the family he had a lung problem, and that Abe might need ‘new lungs’—something the family didn’t really understand and something they certainly couldn’t afford.

When a friend told them about our Remedy Mission in Tikrit, Abe’s family decided to get a second opinion. Unfortunately, Abe missed the cut and was scheduled for a check-up on the next mission. It was nearly 1am last night when both the list and the doctors were exhausted, and they decided to pack up for the night.

But the local doctors pleaded, “There’s just one more little boy. Will you please see him?” Dr. Kirk relented.

Abe’s family carried him in, and Dr. Kirk was shocked by what he found.

Abe had huge amounts of fluid in his chest that was pressing on his lungs and making his heart work too hard.

Dr. Mary, the interventional cardiologist on the team, worked with local doctors to successfully drain the fluid around Abe’s heart. “I don’t think he had more than 2-3 days to live—I think he’s the reason God has us here this week.” she said after.

On behalf of Abe and his elated parents: thank you. You’re saving lives.

Give now to bring hope to more children like Abe!

Our Partners:

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

To America And Back—See Photos From Our Heartmender Tour!

March 5, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

“Wow…”

That’s really the best one-word sum-up I can give for the past few weeks. We just arrived back in Iraq after our Heartmender Tour in America, and it was quite the blitz.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, we take time away from Iraq about once or twice a year to speak, share stories, and to get to know you better; not to mention we want to tell you about the difference you’re making in the lives of Iraqis here.

To us, these intense, exhausting trips are absolutely worth it because we believe in concept of preemptive love. Not just Preemptive Love, but preemptive love. The former is a 501(c)3 nonprofit created to provide countless Iraqi children with heart surgeries—something we love discussing with you!

But the latter is the lower-case concept by which we seek to live our lives, and we believe this love is essential, albeit extremely difficult. Preemptive love is about pain-absorbtion and enemy-love over against the all-too-involuntary eye for an eye reaction we’re all prone to. You know what I’m talking about; that involuntary jerk-of-a-knee that makes us want to kick back every time we’re kicked (maybe even twice).

Little did you know that we’re development workers and arm-chair philosophers. But, whether you think us naive or wise, we’ve planted our stake in the ground, or, as we like to put it: we’re blackmailing ourselves into this lifestyle. I.E., our thoughts on fists-down preemptive love are all over the internet, so we’d better live it out!

For a better look at what we mean by “preemptive love”, watch Jeremy’s TEDx talk here.

We started this leg of the tour at The Justice Conference in Philadelphia, where we also hosted an After Party (pictured above) with singer-songerwriter Derek Webb and Seattle pastor Eugene Cho.

That alone would’ve been worth the trans-Atlantic trip, but then we got to meet with people at several universities and churches in Ohio and Texas. So, to everyone at The Loft, Ecclesia, Houston Baptist, and Cedarville: thank you!

After arriving back in Iraq (both bags lost!) and sleeping like a dead person for two days, I spent four hours today combing through new emails, Twitter handles, and info from all the excellent people we met on the trip. As the communication guy here, hundreds of new people to connect with is exciting enough, but the fact that I got to sit down with so many of you and to hear your story—I’m so humbled. The work you guys are doing inspired me!

You’ve been encouraging to us and, more importantly, you’re accomplishing extremely meaningful things in the lives of Iraqi doctors and families.

If you’ve been with us awhile, thank you. And if you’re new and only just joined us, stick around. Our 16th Remedy Mission starts in a few days—keep reading!

Video credit: Ashton Owen
Photo credit: Brandon Hook

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Bubbly Maddy, Our 300th Child

December 14, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

This is Maddy (pronounced mah-dee), the 300^th child you’ve helped us save.

If you haven’t already, watch his intro video here.

Now, I want to you imagine the cheeriest, sweetest child you’ve ever met. This isn’t rhetorical, I’m serious. You got someone in mind? Get your favorite niece or something. Now—and I don’t mean to offend—but whoever you’re imagining is a Scrooge compared to this boy.

He hugs, he dances, he giggles when they’re putting an IV in him.

We sat with Maddy and his mother after their echo screening and he just busted out laughing, squirming all over the place as the cardiologist tried to get a decent look at his heart. Every time I showed him his photos he exclaimed, “Beautiful!”

His grandmother beamed.

So many children come to us with blue faces, clubbed fingers, and the saddest face you’ve ever seen—our hearts break for them. We long to see them healed and happy.

Children like Maddy are a bit deceptive, though. He has two sisters and a brother, but his grandmother said he is still the most happy and active of the group. It was hard for the family to believe Maddy’s heart would eventually give out.

But we were able to give Maddy his operation this week after a six year wait. We’ll be reporting on his trip through the hospital over the next week, so come back for more updates on this sweet child.

	$9—Stitch a Heart Our partner surgeons use high-quality stitches (called “sutures”) to fix leaky heart valves, sew up holes, and close up wounds after surgery. For just $9, you can help us save a child’s life—perfect for an office party or stocking stuffer!
	$50—Patch a Heart Our partner surgeons and nurses make heart patches for each child during their operation from a sheet of material called “Gore-Tex.” For just $50, you can fill the gap in a child’s heart and help save their life!
	$500—Package of Patches Your gift will help us buy enough material to create the patches and change the lives of ten children suffering from life-threatening holes in the walls of their hearts.
	$1,000—Heartmender Package Your gift will help us buy all the medicines, sutures, patches and a portion of the airfare for our doctors and nurses required to save one child’s life on our next Remedy Mission. In partnership with the Iraqi government, $1,000 is roughly what it costs PLC to save a life in Iraq.
	Start Your Own Fundraiser Online Today! You may feel like you only have a few dollars, but when you combine your best with those closest to you, you will quickly find that you can patch a heart—or fund an entire heart surgery—as a group. Click here to get started –>

Our Partners:

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Meet The 300th Child You’ve Impacted!

December 13, 2012 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Allow us to introduce you to a little boy named Maddy, the 300^th child you've impacted in Iraq! (It still seems surreal to type out that sentence!)

It may have been Maddy’s smile that won all of us over; or maybe the fact that he represents the 300^th child we’ve served over the past 5 years; or maybe both!

But despite all the celebrations and smiles here at Basra’s first Remedy Mission, the doctors are eager to work. They have waited 30 years to save children like Maddy, and now it’s time to make up for lost time!

So to celebrate Maddy's life we're doing something we've never done before. We're planning 300 more lifesaving heart surgeries—next year alone!

But we need your help. Your donations are making the biggest impact yet, and we can't let up.

This Christmas, help us save the next 300.

Whether it's a straight-up donation, a Christmas fundraising party, gifting our new lifesaving tee to your friends and family, or starting an online fundraiser—100% of the money donated is going towards saving the next 300.

	$9—Stitch a Heart Our partner surgeons use high-quality stitches (called “sutures”) to fix leaky heart valves, sew up holes, and close up wounds after surgery. For just $9, you can help us save a child’s life—perfect for an office party or stocking stuffer!
	$50—Patch a Heart Our partner surgeons and nurses make heart patches for each child during their operation from a sheet of material called “Gore-Tex.” For just $50, you can fill the gap in a child’s heart and help save their life!
	$500—Package of Patches Your gift will help us buy enough material to create the patches and change the lives of ten children suffering from life-threatening holes in the walls of their hearts.
	$1,000—Heartmender Package Your gift will help us buy all the medicines, sutures, patches and a portion of the airfare for our doctors and nurses required to save one child’s life on our next Remedy Mission. In partnership with the Iraqi government, $1,000 is roughly what it costs PLC to save a life in Iraq.
	Start Your Own Fundraiser Online Today! You may feel like you only have a few dollars, but when you combine your best with those closest to you, you will quickly find that you can patch a heart—or fund an entire heart surgery—as a group. Click here to get started –>

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.

Smiles All Around—Remedy Mission XIV Continues To Go Well!

December 9, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Have you ever waited for something for 30 years? The doctors here in Basra have!

These are the kinds of faces we’re seeing around the hospital as children, parents, and doctors show their excitement for this groundbreaking surgical mission.

Given that, culturally speaking, Iraqis aren’t as quick to flash camera smiles for photos, the past few days have been incredibly smiley. In fact, my flash batteries are draining at record speed as I can’t seem to shoot fast enough to catch it all.

I’ll have more for you coming this week, but, for now, know that our 7th operation of this mission is tomorrow morning and I’m really excited to introduce you to one of the upcoming children.

Keep reading—we’ll have more for you soon!

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Check Out 3 Ways You Can Save A Life This Christmas Season!

December 2, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

There are lots of ways to give this Christmas, but what better way than by helping save the life of a child?

You're reading this because you're already a making a difference—you've helped us save hundreds of lives in Iraq.

Here are three ways you can keep making a difference this Christmas:

#1: Put a tee under the tree: When you order our Remaking The World tee, you're helping fund a lifesaving heart surgery. Click here to place your order and give your friends a gift they won't forget!

#2: Party for life: Invite your friends over, crack open the eggnog, and save a life this Christmas. Each year parties are thrown to help raise awareness and money for heart surgeries in Iraq—talk about a great Christmas tradition!

You can also click here to throw an online party—a fundraising campaign to raise money with your friends. (When you start a campaign this month and let us know about it, we'll celebrate with you by mailing you a free Remaking The World tee!)

#3: Save a child, honor a friend: Give to a child in Iraq in honor of your friends and family this Christmas—just click here to donate give on behalf of a loved one. Then reply to this email and we'll send you a free PLC card to help you honor them!

So let the season begin, and join us in saving lives this Christmas!

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.

“Thanks For Saving My Son”—An Interview With An Iraqi Father

November 6, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Take 2 minutes to watch this interview with Noman, a university professor whose only son, Salam, was born with a life-threatening heart defect.

This is just one example of the difference you can make in the lives of Iraqi families! Please consider helping us save more like Salam by donating at the link below.

Help us save more children like Salam!

Our Partners:

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Happy Halloween From The ICU!

November 1, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

I just wanted to drop a quick note saying ‘Happy Halloween’ and thanks to all of you who’ve helped the children pictured above (and the hundreds of others) continue living!

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

This Is Your Chance To Double Your Impact In Iraq!

October 30, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

We’re delighted to announce our partnership with One Day’s Wages (ODW), a grassroots movement of people dedicated to giving “one day’s wages” to impact the world and alleviate extreme global poverty.

ODW has pledged to help us raise the money we need to provide medical supplies for our upcoming Remedy Mission. To do that, ODW will match the $5,000 we raise with another $5,000—giving us the $10,000 we need to help save the lives of another 20+ children in Iraq.

That means your gift to this campaign will automatically be doubled, doubling the impact for children in Iraq!

To help us reach our goal and provide another lifesaving Remedy Mission, donate on ODW’s campaign page HERE.

Will you help us reach our goal of raising $5,000? We can’t do it without you!

As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

The Gift of an Entire Year of Training—What Would You Do With It?

October 23, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Astronaut… professional Lego builder… Jedi… primatologist (monkey scientist, for you laymen)…

Growing up, my dream jobs were a little ridiculous, but that’s a part of what made them dreams. And they were mine.

But what if someone had actually approached 8 year-old me and said, “We’re bringing you some of the the best primatologists in the world to train you for an entire year because we want you to be excellent—we’re going to help you achieve your dream.”

Put mildly, I would’ve been very excited.

But that’s monkey business (sorry) when compared with the gift YOU’ve given to Iraqi doctors like Dr. Akeel and his team: an entire year of hands-on training from some of the best cardiac doctors and nurses in the world.

Dr. Akeel’s dream is to become the kind of heart surgeon who can save the lives of thousands and help eradicate The Backlog, and you’re making that possible. This isn’t some silly child-hood fantasy, this is the realization of something incredibly valuable, and it will bless countless lives.

Since we started this year of doctor-training and life-saving down in Nasiriyah nearly four months ago, there has been a constant stream of hands-on training for the doctors and nurses there. The pace of a year-long program like this is much different from our fast-paced, packed Remedy Missions.

As of today, an average of 12 children have received heart operations per month and countless thousands of hours of training have been logged. The International Children’s Heart Foundation team members are creating protocols and teaching the locals how to follow them, the local ICU staff are getting the kind of in-depth training they need, and Dr. Novick is personally there now doing diagnostics, providing operations, and leading training sessions.

But that’s not the best part. The most exciting news is that the people of Nasiriyah and the Thi-Qar province finally have an ongoing source of hope for their children. They don’t have to batter down the hospital doors, begging for a remedy.

Now, the Remedy is there to stay. The doctors aren’t leaving, and they can breathe a little easier knowing the team is working through a long list, getting closer and closer to saving their child’s life, and you helped give that to them. Thank you!

Stay tuned, we’ll have more real-time updates for you from Remedy Fellowship very soon.

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And what about you? If you had access to a group of experts who were willing to train you toward excellence in a field, what would it be? Comment below or send me an email here, I’d love to hear from you! Just don’t say Jedi…if they come to train someone, it’ll definitely be me.
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As Communication Director, Matt Willingham spends most of his time trying to get the word out on PLC's work in Iraq. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up, and DSLR camera work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

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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 children in pursuit of peace between communities at odds. We offer the untold thousands of Iraqi kids 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.

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