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WE HAVE KIDS IN SURGERY RIGHT NOW! THROUGH THESE STORIES WE'RE INVITING YOU TO BE A PART OF THE NEXT LIFESAVING SOLUTION. GET TO KNOW THESE KIDS & PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN FOR THE NEXT GROUP! |
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Hamma Cleared for Tuesday Flight Home to Iraq
January 19, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Just two weeks after leaving Iraq it’s exciting to know see Hamma headed out of Turkey on a Tuesday flight home to Iraq! More pictures of his progress to come once he lands back with his family and has some time to rest in Iraq…
One thing has been driven home through our work in Iraq this week: all other things equal, most Iraqis prefer to travel to Iran or Jordan for urgent and non-urgent medical care. Both Iran and Jordan have a history of helping Iraqi refugees and providing safe-haven during difficult times. On the other hand, among most Kurds (at least) in northern Iraq, there is a stigmatization of Turkey as a country that oppresses their own Kurdish minority, though much (unfortunately, not all) of those policies and pogroms have largely ceased in the last ten years.
Anadolu Medical Center is helping change the way people in Iraq think about their neighbors to the north. When Hamma’s mom lands back in country she will be faced with questions about “the Turks.” How were they? Were you scared to speak your language or be identified as a Kurd? Etc. She will pass on story after story of how she was respected and cared for. And by changing the way we think about each other, we just might be able to change the way we treat and relate to each other.
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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. |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma Discharged to His Private Room; Parents Finally Can Believe That Others Actually Love Them
January 9, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
I mentioned a few days ago that Hamma’s family had been swindled out of a 5 digit sum of money last year in their quest to serve their son with life-saving heart surgery when a group from a neighboring country posed as a charity took their cash and fled the country, leaving Hamma to die and the family to suffer in financial ruin. Understandably, this made Hamma’s family considerably gun shy when we started talking to them about our family participation requirement and our desire to create local solutions to local problems.
Will they take our money, too? Can they be trusted? What’s to become of us if we risk it again and this time lose our son?
Thankfully, they took the risk… and today they are reaping the joy! Hamma is out of ICU and back in his room. And - of equal importance - Hamma’s family has come to understand that we love them, as they are, for who they are; that we are not out to get them but be friends with them.
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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. |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma is Extubated in ICU, Doing Extremely Well
January 9, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
When we walked into the Cardiovascular Intensive Care unit one-year-old Hamma was crying - if you could call it crying - with little whimpers; the biggest sounds he could muster up now that the tubes have been taken out of his lungs. The stress placed on the lungs during an open heart surgery is extreme. So the hours and days after surgery are usually filled with a lot of coughing and it usually takes a while for one’s voice - or cry - to come back to full strength.
Still, after a full bottle, Hamma was so satisfied - even smiling involuntarily, like his stomach didn’t care what the rest of his body was going through!
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Part of how we are able to do this is owing to those who have committed to $25, $50, or $150 monthly sponsorships to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Could you reorganize any current spending to see more kids on here? How about becoming a monthly sponsor today? |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma Intubated in ICU But Proceeding According to Plan
January 8, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
Hamma is resting in ICU and is expected to be extubated within a few hours. Everything is going well but his mother is understandably disturbed by the machines and tubes protruding from her little boy. These are still critical hours…
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Part of how we are able to do this is owing to those who have committed to $25, $50, or $150 monthly sponsorships to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Could you reorganize any current spending to see more kids on here? How about becoming a monthly sponsor today? |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma’s Surgery a Complete Success
January 7, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Hamma’s surgery went according to plan and the doctors patched the huge hole between the lower chambers of his heart. Hamma is resting in ICU right now and we hope he can be extubated in a few days.
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Part of how we are able to do this is owing to those who have committed to $25, $50, or $150 monthly sponsorships to impact the future of kids in Iraq. Could you reorganize any current spending to see more kids on here? How about becoming a monthly sponsor today? |
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Hamma Goes Into to Surgery; Mother Goes In to Pray
January 7, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
We could really feel the fear and tension in both Hamma and his mother as they traveled the long corridor to surgery this morning. Since then, his mother has been in tears in her room, crying and praying for him to make it through surgery safely.
Doctors do think that Hamma was a great candidate for surgery, however, and think that repairing the hole between the lower wall of his heart will have a very high impact and offer him a high quality of life.
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
As Hamma Is Accepted to Surgery We See Chance to Mend Wounds Inflicted By Others
January 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
After a mostly restful day recouping from international travel and the shock of being around yet another group of foreigners, Hamma and his mom were excited to hear that he had been accepted as a strong candidate for surgery in the morning, January 7th.
We say “another group of foreigners” because Hamma’s family were victims of a cruel scheme in which they were robbed of thousands of dollars earlier last year while seeking surgery from a neighboring country. In the end - and this story has been corroborated by a number of close and independent sources - the family was left with a dying child, thousands of dollars stolen from them, and a lot of distrust of foreigners eager to “help” them.
Hopefully we can begin repairing the damage done - on all accounts.
Tomorrow will tell…
Follow Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’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. |
Kids Settle into Private Hospital Room at Anadolu Medical Center
January 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
All photos courtesy Mario Mattei of the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers
It was a long day of international travel, but Soma, Danar, Mohammed, & Hamma were still (mostly!) happy little kids when we arrived in Istanbul, Turkey at the Anadolu Medical Center and began blood tests, xrays, and EKGs.
Next comes some tough decisions about operability (particularly for Soma Salah) - and then the even harder process of choosing a course of action, performing the surgeries, and waiting through those dangerous - critical - hours during the sojourn through ICU. Stay tuned in the following places below:
Follow Their Journeys:
Follow 7-month-old Soma on Twitter: @SomaSalah. Subscribe to Soma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Soma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 1-year-old Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 9-month-old Mohammed on Twitter: @MohammedUmed. Subscribe to Mohammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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.
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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. |
Soma, Hamma, Danar, & Mohammed Leaving Iraq
January 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Fearing they are headed into “enemy territory” as Kurds crossing into Turkey for much-needed heart surgery, Baby Soma, Hamma, Danar, & Mohammed ride the shuttle in Iraq to their airplane.
Follow Their Journeys:
Follow 7-month-old Soma on Twitter: @SomaSalah. Subscribe to Soma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Soma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 1-year-old Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 9-month-old Mohammed on Twitter: @MohammedUmed. Subscribe to Mohammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
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.
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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. |
REAL-TIME UPDATES ON HAMMA
