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)

#RemedyMission Trailer

August 15, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

There is no sound on this video… but you will hear the impact of your giving loud and clear by the end of next week.

Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future.

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

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Nivar Rests in ICU Extubated and Breathing on Her Own

July 23, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Friday was another great day of progress for Nivar. She is still in ICU due to a small chest infection, but she is breathing on her own and eating. As soon as the infection is cleared up, she will be transferred to her room upstairs. Stay tuned for more from Istanbul on Nivar’s progress…

This little boy, Yahya, still needs a few thousand dollars to cover the costs of surgery and travel from Iraq to Istanbul so he can experience the same life-change you’ve given Nivar. To take Yahya out of line and get him to Istanbul for surgery, please enter the amount of your choice below and click “Donate Now!”.

Follow Nivar on Twitter: @NivarMohammed. Subscribe to Nivar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Nivar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Nivar’s Surgery Results in Total Correction!

July 21, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment 

After nearly 5 hours in surgery we heard the news that Nivar had received a total correction for her heart defect and was resting under heavy sedation in ICU. Here is how one of our volunteers and donors on site described the scene as her father rushed to hear the news:

Have you ever observed something that made you feel just a little more alive than you did the second before? The senses sharpen, everything else around you stops, and it seems as if the state of your very existence could hinge upon your understanding of that precise moment. Life all of a sudden becomes more valuable and hope of something unintelligible, unexplainable and far off fills your being from deep within. THIS is how I felt when I dodged a father running to see his daughter’s doctor following the completion of her open heart surgery…

In the post-op consult we learned that Nivar has been misdiagnosed and that her complication was more severe than originally thought. Once her chest was opened up Nivar was found to have a defect known as “Double Outlet Right Ventricle” in which both great arteries arise wholly or in large part from the right ventricle. Dr. Çiçek corrected her great arteries and patched a massive hole between the lower chambers of her heart and sent her on her way.

We were able to place three of our summer interns in surgery yesterday – two pre-med students and a photographer – which was a very rewarding experience for all involved. Above are two snapshots of what they experienced during surgery….

Nivar is resting in ICU right now. We deeply appreciate your generosity in seeking to save Nivar’s life and your attentiveness this week as we’ve posted updates on her progress each step of the way. Has she captured your heart? You should tell someone about it!

Please use the “Share This”, “Twitter box,” and “Facebook Comments” box below to spread the word about our work right now. A tweet, a Facebook “like,” or an email to a friend can go a long way toward helping us bring more kids like Yahya to surgery in a few weeks.

Follow Nivar on Twitter: @NivarMohammed. Subscribe to Nivar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Nivar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Nivar Goes in to Surgery After Endless Games of Patty-Cake

July 20, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

A hospital is a lonely place if you don’t have someone you love and trust to share it with. Nivar is here in Istanbul – away from her home and family and brand new baby sister in Iraq – with her dad. Dad’s are great for little girls… but let’s be honest… little girls need other girls!

It has been a tremendous ending to our Preemptive Love Summer Internship this week watching Lydia Bullock and all of our other interns give themselves to these kids and their parents as much as they can.

In the video above Lydia plays patty-cake again and again and again with little Nivar – which effectively staves off the worry and fear that could have easily set in as Nivar waited for surgery this morning. Her dad was worried and scared, but a little humility and willingness to meet a child on her own level meant that Nivar had nothing to fear.

Nivar went into surgery at 10 a.m. this morning… stay tuned for more updates on her progress….

Follow Nivar on Twitter: @NivarMohammed. Subscribe to Nivar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Nivar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Thoughts on Nivar, My Own Little Girl, and Injustice

July 20, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

You know I have a daughter… she’s not quite Nivar’s age. But I have deeply enjoyed the years I’ve had with her. She has her own personality. We have our own little jokes. We have secret phrases that no one else understands. And she loves candy… especially suckers.

So while my daughter is safe at home with a fully functioning heart, I’m doubly burdened by the weight Nivar and her family have carried all these years. Why wasn’t she treated earlier? Why are there so few healthcare options in an oil-rich country like Iraq? Why was she born this way at all?

Did GOD do this? Did Saddam do this? Could we have done this?

These are things that I’m beginning to talk about with my daughter when we pray for little girls like Nivar.

One of the “heart surgery kids” my daughter became most attached to was a baby named Daryan we tried to save a year ago this week. He died. My daughter is remarkably unfazed by death. She still talks about Daryan and prays for him weekly.

Sometimes I wonder if I should I be more like her?

While Nivar’s dad steps outside to get a break and smoke a cigarette, I’m sitting here with Nivar alone in Istanbul thinking how much she’s like my little girl. Thinking about sending my daughter through those harrowing doors into heart surgery brings tears so easily. Every time I see these kids cry in the face of the unknown; every time I see them play through the discomfort; and every time I see them enjoy a sucker in the sunshine I remember that these dark shadows in which they live simply prove the existence of a blazing light; a better reality. Because for all the questions left unanswered in the face of injustice, we can agree that shadows prove the light.

Follow Nivar on Twitter: @NivarMohammed. Subscribe to Nivar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Nivar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

Music courtesy The Autumn Film (http://theautumnfilm.com/)

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Leena Returns to Iraq without Surgery

April 27, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

An shot from Leena’s catheter procedure revealing a misdiagnosis and heightened risk for surgery and post-operative course.

It was not an easy decision – and only the second time we’ve ever made it – but a misdiagnosis in Iraq brought us to a fork in the road in Istanbul: (a) take on a high-risk, complicated surgery with a long post-operative course or (b) use the limited resources we have at our disposal to provide a higher impact, less risky surgery for other children waiting in line.

These are not decisions that are easy enough to summarize in a few sentences. These are not “one-for-one” tradeoffs and the complexities can bring otherwise decisive, Type-A people to a complete deadlock. Leena is dear to us, irreplaceable to her family, and precious in the sight of GOD. But there are times when providing surgery for one feels like an act of treason against another. In our case, Leena was a last minute, highly urgent, highly complicated surgery who applied in the midst of our attempts to fulfill previous commitments to less complicated, less risky, more predictable children.

It broke our hearts and we made the decision slowly over 4-5 days through many tears and prayers. But in the end, we sent Leena back to Iraq.

We contacted our friends at Brothers Together and asked them to consider Leena for surgery and found out that her cardiologist and Kurdistan Save the Children in Iraq had already made the appeal as well. We are very grateful to them for filling in for the family at a time when we were unable.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

ADVOCATE OF THE WEEK

March 31, 2010 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

Meet PLC’s latest Advocate of the Week, Dony Costa.

I had the privilege of talking with Dony in the beginning of 2010. As Dony was sharing with me all that he’s doing to advocate on behalf of PLC, I was impressed, but as he started to share with me more of his personal story, I was blown away. Here’s an excerpt from one of our talks, see for yourself why Dony’s our Advocate of the Week:

Alright, Dony – tell us more about yourself. Who is Dony Costa?

Since I could walk I could skate. I was a very active kid, Ice Hockey being my passion ever since my first hospital visit in 1989 when the Los Angeles Kings Hockey team came in to visit kids who were staying at the hospital. I continued to play hockey until the age of 19 when I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. Within the first year, I was in the hospital receiving blood transfusions as the doctors fought to keep me alive on the surgery table. My heart was not strong enough to come off of bypass so that was when my first internal Pacemaker was implanted. I began to live a normal life, staying in sports, going to school just like the other kids until I had to have my pacemaker changed once every six years.

In October of 2008 I started to have trouble breathing so I went to my doctor to have it checked out. I couldn’t even fall asleep because it was so hard to breathe. It got so bad that I slept in the shower for about a month with hot water running so it would open up my lungs. (My Mom wasn’t too happy about that when she got the water bill!) Then I had my mom drive me to the ER. My heart was enlarged twice its size, almost a full centimeter which I guess is a substantial amount of ones heart to grow in the matter of months. I was rushed to surgery but because of how weak my heart was they couldn’t put me under all the way for fear of not being able to bring me back from the anesthesia. A Dual chamber pacemaker/defibrillator was implanted and yes, I did wake up.

My doctor gave me a year to live on the heart I had until I would need a transplant. My doctor told me I would be out of breathe if  I walked outside to get the mail. My doctor told me my heart was so fragile it could give out if something scared or shocked me. My doctor told me I would have to be put on disability because I could not work or go to school. All my doctors decided to let me go home on Christmas Eve because they TOLD me it would be nice to spend my last Christmas at home.

That year I decided to live.

What made you become an advocate of PLC?

The aspect I love about Preemptive Love is the sincerity of each case and that each one is taken seriously. I love that they not only help pay for the life saving procedure but also for the family to be there with their child. Going through what I did, I know my spirits would have been down to the point of maybe not getting better because my family wasn’t there. I can not stress that fact enough. And I love the follow up that PLC does with each child.

When you come visit us in Iraq, what will you tell these kids with the same heart condition that you have?

If I could sit down with one of these kids I would gladly tell them my story and tell them how important it is to have family around and keep your mind set high. I would tell these kids no matter how bad their condition is, that there is always hope, even for the lost cause cases like me. Finally I would tell them that I am playing Hockey. I am cycling. I am employed. I am getting ready to go back to school. I am doing all this on the same heart GOD gave me.

Never lose hope.

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.

Danar is Fit to Fly Home on Tuesday; Takes with Him a Message of Peace

January 11, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

All of Danar’s follow-up echos and tests show that he is doing extremely well! He has been deemed “fit to fly” home to Iraq on Tuesday. And when he and his mom do make it home, they will take with them – forever take with them – a different-than-usual story about the Turks to the north of them and the Americans who came from the West to their country.

Life-saving heart surgery; life-changing experiences of “the other”; of the person different from me; of that kind of person. What difference a week can make!

Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? We are able to do this because thousands of people like you have given $10, $25, and $50 – or whatever they could – to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Have you helped out yet? Would you give what you can today below?

Follow 3-year-old Danar on Twitter: @danarsami. Subscribe to Danar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Danar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

Danar Discharged to His Private Room; Mom Laughs for Joy At His New Life Ahead

January 9, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment 

We’ve been on this journey with Danar and his family for a few months now. In fact, we know Danar because of a child named Honya we helped back in February 2009. But in all our history with this family, we’ve not seen smiles and happiness; openness, hope, and joy for the future like we saw today.

It’s hard to put this in to words. We trust that the smiles above convey the deep impact you’ve made on the future of Danar, his mom, his dad, their extended family, and the previously destroyed village in Iraq in which they live.

These smiles – and the depth of hope they convey – are one of the primary things we aim for in our work.

Isn’t it amazing to watch life-saving in progress? We are able to do this because thousands of people like you have given $10, $25, and $50 – or whatever they could – to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Have you helped out yet? Would you give what you can today below?

Follow 3-year-old Danar on Twitter: @danarsami. Subscribe to Danar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Danar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

CREATING A VALVE FROM THE SAC AROUND DANAR’S HEART

January 7, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment 

Unfortunately, a lot of well-meaning donations and aid end up in places that donors never intended. It is our hope that pictures like this will give you an increasingly clear understanding of what it is you are helping us accomplish in the lives of Iraqi children suffering from congenital heart disease (CHD) after decades of intra-family marriage, malnutrition in war torn villages, and chemical warfare.

For older, more developed CHD kids it is often possible to use an artificial replacement when a valve is failing. But for younger babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers the artificial valves cannot grow with the child. Above we see Prof. Dr. Sertaç Çiçek with a piece of the pericardium (the sac around the heart) as he shapes it into a valve that ultimately stopped all the leakage for Danar, decreased the swollen size of his heart by 2-3x, and will decrease the strain on other vital organs.

So when you go to work tomorrow, you can be sure you are making a difference in the world! This is your money – indeed your hard work! – saving lives of Iraqi kids and setting them free into a hope-filled future!

We can do this because hundreds of people every year give generously to cover the material costs of surgery to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Surgeons in Turkey are playing their part. Would you give what you can today to make a difference for tomorrow?

Follow 3-year-old Danar on Twitter: @danarsami. Subscribe to Danar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Danar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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: @Jeremy_Courtney.

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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.

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