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Baby Leah is Developing Nicely as We Anticipate a July Surgery Outside Iraq
April 30, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Visiting Leah’s house this week was so much fun. She is developing well and her parents continue to work with her everyday to help her struggle through her Down Syndrome. We gave her some stacking rings, which she picked up and chewed and wore as bracelets while playing with her older sister, Dia, who is two years old.
A few weeks ago Leah’s mom watched me with a careful eye taking in everything I was doing with Leah. She then repeated it all after me to get Leah to engage in play rather than just lay still - which is going to be such a critical part of her development. Now, thanks to this simple modeling session and her mother’s diligence to practice and work with her, Leah can now roll over, sit up with little support, grab and hold toys and giggle about it all.
She is gaining weight steadily and should be just the right size for her surgery in July.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Shwan Is Growing So Fast Now That His Heart is Repaired!
April 29, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Photo by Heber Vega
It’s been awhile since we visited Shwan in his village near Ranya in northern Iraq after sending him to a much-needed surgery in May 2009. He has officially “graduated” from our Family Followthrough program and has grown a great deal, re-engaged in school, and increased his activity out in the streets and parks with other boys his age. He’s a soccer (football) fanatic - he even brought his favorite trading cards with him to surgery last May!
The free flow of oxygenated blood throughout his body now that the hole in his heart has been closed has allowed for much more physical energy and brain energy. He seems to really enjoy school now - his father is a mathematics teacher!
We do not do our work her so that we will be thanked or praised. But it sure does feel nice when people appreciate the efforts expended on their behalf and for their well-being. That’s one of the reasons that it is such a joy to visit Shwan’s family: they are genuinely grateful and it shows.
Photo by Heber Vega
The occasion for our visit had a lot to do with our friend Lawan Hawizy in London and his efforts to run in the Paris Semi Marathon to raise money for other kids like Shwan. Lawan’s brother, Salan, traveled with us to inspect our work and our relationships with the families so that he could help inform Lawan’s fundraising efforts and work himself as a Kurd in northern Iraq to raise money for some of these children. After our visit Lawan went on to run (and finish!) the Paris Semi and raised $2,000 for our February Surgery Group.
Many thanks to all who have given so that dear children like Shwan can enjoy their childhood, can see firsthand the benefits of learning to give your time and resources away so that others might benefit, and can learn of a world where hate is not the only option.
NEXT IN LINE FOR SURGERY
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Unlike so many kids we see, Bawar has a condition that makes him a great candidate for a total correction. If we are able to send him to surgery in the next three months, he has a great chance of living a totally normal life. Bawar will hopefully be the 62nd child for whom we’ve provided surgery with your help! As you’ve seen with Shwan above, you really can make a profound difference in his life!
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| Do you intend on volunteering your time in the near future? May we suggest three ways to volunteer your time with the Preemptive Love Coalition to save children’s lives in Iraq: | |
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1.) Sign up for our newsletter to stay apprised of news and ways you can advocate on behalf of Bawar and others to save lives in Iraq. |
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2.) Write a blog post, email, or old-fashioned snail mail letter to your friends alerting them to the situation facing Bawar and let them know that there are solutions available that yield results as fantastic as Shwan’s! |
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3.) Send out a “tweet” or a message about us on Facebook, suggesting your friends check out Bawar’s opportunity to receive lifesaving heart surgery. (HINT: You can also use the “SHARE” button below. |
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For more volunteering ideas send an email to cody@preemptivelove.org.
To give, please use the fast and simple form below. |
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Sara is Doing Great Back in Iraq One Month After Surgery
April 25, 2010 by Jessica · Leave a Comment
Sara and her father came by our office on their way to a check-up with the local cardiologist, Dr. Aso Faeq.
It was a joy to see her and talk with her. She is doing great and is enjoying a little time off from school. We talked about picnics and the results of recent elections. They told us in detail of their visits to Deelan’s family, who also went to surgery in March. They amazed me with their love for this little boy they didn’t even know until they met at the airport on their way to Istanbul. It is great to see healed hearts, bright futures, and relationships formed (and/or sustained) across some recent - and some more historic - barriers between Turkmen, Kurd and Arab in the city of Kirkuk.
We ended our time with them celebrating with the fresh baklava and chocolates they brought to say “thank you.” Thanks to all of you Woodway college students Sara is alive and thriving with her newly healed heart.
Follow Sara on Twitter: @SaraMuaeed. Subscribe to Sara’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sara’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
ADOPT A CHILD
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Churches, universities, and other organized groups were the backbone of our large fundraising efforts in 2009—and now we’re looking for at least 12 churches, mosques, synagogues, universities, youth groups, etc to adopt an single Iraqi child to raise life-saving awareness and funds on his/her behalf. Group goals usually range between $5,000–10,000—though we’ve seen junior high groups raise over $8k and college students pull together $30k! |
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Jessica Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Family Services Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. She is also a mother of two children and is married to PLC's Executive Director, Jeremy Courtney. When not absorbed in caring for Iraqi children and sharing life with Iraqi families, she enjoys sewing and scrapbooking. |
In Tribute to a Fallen Friend
April 19, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
I learned yesterday that the man on the right (above) was assassinated in Baghdad by the Mehdi Militia of Moqtada al-Sadr. The man above is a friend and a partner in our efforts to wage peace in Iraq. In fact, it was his efforts to bridge gaps and stand down oppression that earned him the array of bullets and bombs that finally took his life at the hands of his enemies.
This is not a post to celebrate the Preemptive Love Coalition, me, or anyone other than the countless thousands of brave men and women in Iraq who face down these petulant bullies every day and get virtually no credit; no headline stories; no Facebook pages dedicated to their efforts; no trending topics on Twitter; no books written about their peaceful hearts or comparisons to Mother Teressa or Mohandas Gandhi.
I knew him as Abu Namis or “The father of Namis” - a typical way to be known in Iraq. So it was immediately striking. When I learned of his death, I thought of Namis, now fatherless because his dad worked across the aisle with a vision that far exceeded the atrophied imagination of his opponents.
The photo above is taken from my first meeting with him. The other two men in the picture - who are currently alive & well today الحمد لله - are sheikhs with whom we have worked to help children receive the heart surgeries they’ve needed. All three of these men are Sunni, but like so many un- and under-reported similar groups in Iraq, these men do not bow to the minority who argue for violence between Sunnis and Shi’as.
In that first meeting the man second from the right seemed stand-offish and suspicious. This photo itself seemed more an act of obligation than something born from a genuine desire to mark a memorable meeting after forging the beginnings of a partnership to take children to Turkey in conjunction with their Baghdad-based organization. But when the camera turned off, I put my hand on his shoulder and apologized for the things that had happened to his children, his neighbors, and his countrymen here in Iraq.
We frequently talk about the need to avoid lazy generalizations. All Arabs, Muslims, and Iraqis are not this way or that way. Nor am I America or Christianity. But I can apologize for myself - and I can do it honestly - because the truth is that I didn’t initially have many objections to a lot of the terrible things that happened in Iraq. But that was before “these people” had real names, real stories, and real lives in my eyes.
In an instant, that apology seemed to unlock his heart.An hour has passed inside our poorly lit apartment office and then - for the first time - he took off his glasses. He had seen me for an hour - but I had not been allowed to see him, hiding under a keffiyeh and sun shades. But now I was allowed in. I was still an outsider - but at least an outsider with a heart. And with the glasses off he looked at me and said “Thank you” as tears started coming down.
I’m not trying to be dramatic. But an assassination of a man I knew to be kind and who genuinely desired peace for his people is, in and of itself, dramatic! My main goal here is to honor his memory. To say what the newspapers likely won’t. And to let Abu Namis stand as a representative of so many other unsung Iraqi heros. There are too many to celebrate. And like Abu Namis, many of them pay the price every day.
In the Fall we will begin our first tour of America. We will be talking more about these stories, about Iraqi peacemakers, Muslim peacemakers, and Christians peacemakers; and about how these principles are deeply relevant to your friendships, your marriages, and your engagement with the world around you, and about how you can live a similar life - even when the stakes may not seem as high.
Until then, may GOD do something to amazing and unpredictable to intervene in the current course of events in IRAQ. Peace was GOD’s idea long before it was ours.
Peace from Iraq,
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Baby Leena Leaves Iraq for Urgent Surgery in Turkey
April 14, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
It was about mid-morning on Sunday when Leena’s dad came into our office, frantically looking for help for his daughter who was dying before his eyes from her congenital heart defect.
We contacted our partners in Istanbul at the Anadolu Medical Center and they concurred: it might be too late for Leena, now 50 days old, but if there was any remaining chance she should come immediately.
With unprecedented speed we worked with Leena’s father and their extended family to get Leena to surgery. The family and friend network rallied quickly sold their car and rallied with a total of $10,000. Within just a few hours we were able to get our local staff, Leena, and her mother on the very last seats out of Iraq on Tuesday’s flight to Istanbul.
The picture above is Leena’s last moments with her father before leaving him to go back to the village where he is 8 year old Mohammed Star’s elementary school teacher, whom we sent to surgery in November 2009.
Are you looking for a way to get involved? Let us suggest the following three actions:
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
ADVOCATE OF THE WEEK
March 31, 2010 by Cody · 1 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.
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Cody Fisher is a co-founder and U.S. Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. Cody is married to the marvelous Michelle Fisher and they currently live in Southern California. Cody is a lover of people, good music, photography, and anything that makes him laugh. |
Deelan Calls Daddy in Iraq: “I’m Coming Home!”
March 11, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Press the “forward” button above to view and read the captioned slideshow about Deelan’s journey through surgery and the phone call to his daddy in Iraq that brought tears to our eyes!
COPY AND PASTE THE CODE BELOW TO EMBED THIS SLIDESHOW IN YOUR OWN WEBSITE
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Are you looking for a way to get involved? Let us suggest the following three actions:
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Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Three Kids Headed Home with Happy, Healthy Hearts
March 10, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
This doesn’t look like the happiest group of people, but trust us, they are! It was 6 a.m. at an airport! Few are happy in that context!
It’s been a great journey for Muhammed, Baroof, and Sozyar. Both Muhammed and Sozyar were “urgent.” It was unclear whether Muhammed or Baroof would even be operable. And look at them today!
In our talks today with Dr. Resmiye at the Anadolu Medical Center she used words like “miracle” and “unbelievable” and “they won their lives back” to describe these kids.
Usually we try to keep a healthy balance of the “miraculous” and that which can be reasonable calculated according to the medical numbers. It’s hard to build a budget around miracles! But we are thrilled to celebrate GOD’s kindness in the lives of these children alongside the Turkish doctors who, themselves, have said that it is GOD’s doing and not just their own.
By the time this posts, Muhammed, Baroof, and Sozyar will be resting at home - in the city or the village - with their daddies and extended families who have been missing them so much.
As much as the surgery at this point, the fact that you’ve paid for round trip airfare through our partnership with Atlasjet Airlines for these kids is a great source of comfort, because healing means precious little when it separates you from the ones you love the most!
These children are now enrolled in the Preemptive Love Followthrough program. We’ll track their progress as Baroof goes back to school and Muhammed and Sozyar learn how to walk, and we’ll offer a number of services to them for the next six months (and often, much longer).
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Followthrough Program
With our Followthrough program we monitor a child’s healing and re-entry into their home culture, teach the importance of activity and a balanced diet, and address issues like racism and other radical ideologies. This amount represents the costs of medications, special needs, teaching materials, etc.
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Follow baby Sozyar on Twitter: @SozyarHamdan. Subscribe to Sozyar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sozyar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow Baroof on Twitter: @BaroofAbdul. Subscribe to Baroof’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Baroof’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow Muhammed Adnan on Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan. Subscribe to Muhammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Muhammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Deelan Discharged from ICU after Surgery & Nitric Oxide Save His Life
March 10, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Deelan is almost like a different baby than the one we’ve been working with the last few months - and certainly different than the crying, uncomfortable, scared baby we brought over last Tuesday night.
Deelan’s surgery and his post-operative treatment with nitric oxide gas has transformed this once-uncomfortable, scared child into a happy, comfortable, impacted-for-life story of your compassion and kindness!
 Molecule of the Year (1992), Nitric Oxide |
To save lives through the very specific provision of nitric oxide, please contribute your desired amount below. One container of nitric oxide costs us approximately $2,000. |
Follow Deelan on Twitter: @DeelanKameran. Subscribe to Deelan’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Deelan’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
Sara Enjoys a Visit from U.S. Supporters Who Funded Her Surgery
March 9, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
As cute as the babies are, we do enjoy interacting with these older kids. Watching them work through their fear, and seeing them come into their own in a foreign culture, is a real joy. Plus, it seems like the “mark” we’re leaving for life will be more profound for these adolescents.
If you’ll remember, Sara’s family comes from Kirkuk, Iraq. One of her cousins left Iraq over ten years ago and currently lives in Istanbul. So we’ll be discharging Sara into the care of her cousin this week so he can show her the sites and so they can reconnect a bit as a family.
But before she leaves, we were honored to host one of our biggest advocates and long-term supporters, Chelsea Pershall (center), and two friends (Erin [left] and Ashley [right]) for Spring Break in Istanbul. They came specifically to meet Sara, whose surgery they funded through a widespread grassroots effort on the Baylor University campus via FWCM.org.
Sara’s family was so grateful to meet these three girls and beyond the life-saving money they represent, found a lot of comfort from hours of broken English conversations and card games.
Do you know someone who might be interested in joining us for a summer of this kind of work in Turkish hospitals and Iraqi homes? Click here to consider our Summer Internship.
Follow Sara on Twitter: @SaraMuaeed. Subscribe to Sara’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Sara’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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Jeremy Courtney lives and loves in Iraq as a co-founder and Executive Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He's also the father of two spectacular children, and married to the lovely Jessica Courtney. When not absorbed in PLC work he can be found writing songs and singing about hope and future. |
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