CONTACT US
CHECKOUT
 |
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! |
|||
Fighting for Families
December 8, 2009 by Cayla Willingham · Leave a Comment
When a child is chosen for surgery, their family is adopted by a member of the PLC team. This person makes it their goal to do whatever is necessary to defend the family in this time of vulnerability. They are the family advocate.
The care offered to the family goes far beyond a healthy heart. When I visited the team in Iraq a month ago, I was able to see this care first hand on various home visits I made with PLC’s family advocates.
Here are some examples of what I saw:
- Honya went to Istanbul for surgery in November. Her advocate sat with her parents to explain what the process would be like and what to expect in the hospital.
- Heran needs a follow-up surgery but must gain weight before that’s possible. Her advocate has been visiting weekly, checking her weight and encouraging her closer to this goal.
- Taban has completely recovered from her surgery but lacks motivation in school. Her advocate met with the school board, persuaded them to let her enroll, and continues to support her education.
- Zana has also been doing well, but his mother was keeping him from school for fear he would turn up sick again. After some reassurance, she allowed him to begin his studies.
- Shwana has fully recovered and is doing great, but others in his family are still in need. His family advocate is in the process of acquiring a wheelchair for his disabled cousin and was able to give helpful exercises to his grandma who recently had a stroke.
PLC does so much more than just heart surgeries; they truly care for the Iraqi people and work to show them that they matter. I was astounded to see how much is invested in the lives of the children and their families and how big of a difference it really makes.
HELP PLC IN THEIR ADVOCACY ON BEHALF OF IDREES BY GIVING TO HIS SURGERY IN HONOR OF A FRIEND BELOW:
 |
Idrees is slated for surgery in January 2010. PLC will be collecting money for his life-saving surgery throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family! | |||
|
GIVING IN HONOR OF ANOTHER
In honor of a friend or family member, donate the amount of your choice to fund a January surgery for Idrees by entering it in the field below. PLC will send you a Christmas card about Idrees along with a Preemptive Love Coalition “Hope for the Holidays” magnet as a physical expression of your gift on behalf of another.
| |||
 |
Cayla Willingham came to Iraq in October 2009 as a supporter and friend of the Preemptive Love Coalition because she wanted to see first hand what the work was all about. When not vacationing in lovely countries like Iraq, Cayla and her husband, Matt, live in Thailand where they live under the patronage of the Royal Princess.... and yes, it really is as cool as it sounds! |
Honya is Doing Great Back at Home in Her Village in Iraq
December 3, 2009 by Jessica · Leave a Comment
We visited Honya and her family this morning and she looks great. The incision from her amazing heart surgery is almost completely healed and she finally has enough energy to learn to sit up on her own and to crawl around for the first time. Only 20 days after surgery she is acting like a normal 9 month old and her fingers and cheeks have a wonderful pink hue. We watched family videos from the last 4 days of the holiday here in Iraq.
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
 |
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. |
Baby Honya’s last day in the Hospital Before Going Home to Daddy
November 16, 2009 by Joshua · Leave a Comment
Its been no secret we think this little baby is adorable. And we know you do, too. I mean c’mon, look at this girl.
This is harder than it should be though.
We know its not the way this is supposed to be….we’re supposed to be excited about seeing her leave, going home to her family, back to normal life….but we’re going to miss seeing her each day!
Today, she is well rested and smiling a lot. Today, we are praising God for a successful surgery and the new life that has been given. In fact, today we’re grateful for our Followthrough program and the fact that we will continue to see this little girl grow up into the hope & future that has been provided for her.
And we’re grateful for you… because without you we could not have made this happen!
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
 |
Joshua Gigliotti is a PLC Summer Intern ('09) turned short-term staff who spends a majority of his time with PLC taking exceptional photos of children in Iraq in an effort to humanize Iraqis and portray them as people full of dreams and hope. When his camera is not in-hand, Josh is often found in local tea houses with friends and also enjoys traversing the great outdoors. |
Uneventful Days in a Hospital After Heart Surgery are the Best Kind
November 11, 2009 by awara · 1 Comment
Today was a down day… not much to report on Honya and Vary except that everything is going according to course. Because of the down day, some of us worked from the hospital while our American staffed worked from the guesthouse in Istanbul on some long-term projects for PLC.
But thanks to modern technology and the incredible access to WiFi at the Anadolu Medical Center, the staff from the guesthouse were able to “conference call” with the mothers and the two girls to check in on their well-being throughout the day!
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 2-year-old Vary on Twitter: @varybahman. Subscribe to Vary’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Vary’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
 |
Awara Hassan Mama is a Regional Development Officer for the Preemptive Love Coalition in charge of creating local solutions to local problems in Iraq among his compatriots and for the sake of our constituents. Awara often travels abroad with PLC children to surgery and serves as a translator and a key cooperator between communities in conflict. |
Honya is Breathing Entirely On Her Own Just Hours After Surgery
November 10, 2009 by Joshua · 1 Comment
Baby Honya is sleeping calmly in ICU, waiting for doctors to clear her to release to her room. Her oxygen levels are great off room air and the strength of her own lungs! And her pulmonary pressure is (so far) entirely under control!
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
|
Joshua Gigliotti is a PLC Summer Intern ('09) turned short-term staff who spends a majority of his time with PLC taking exceptional photos of children in Iraq in an effort to humanize Iraqis and portray them as people full of dreams and hope. When his camera is not in-hand, Josh is often found in local tea houses with friends and also enjoys traversing the great outdoors. |
Honya’s Surgery a Complete Success - Intubated in ICU Resting
November 9, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Do you remember that little baby that we introduced you to a week ago that all of our monthly sponsors have been working together to help… the one for whom we made the last minute Twitter push to raise her remaining airfare?
That little girl, Honya Mahdi, just came out of a life-altering, impact-her-life-forever surgery at the hands of Dr. Sertaç Çiçek and his staff at the Anadolu Medical Center.
Honya’s surgery this morning was a 4 hour ordeal… but a complete success!
As I said in my previous post, the choice to accept her to surgery and the nerve-wracking waiting to see how she’d fare has been anything but easy.
But you told us that you were giving your money to change the lives of children that would otherwise be left behind. So here we are, one significant step closer to making good on your intentions.
We could not have done Honya’s surgery without our monthly sponsorship program. We hope those of you who have invested your time, prayers, and dollars into Honya’s family over the past few months feel extremely fulfilled today. You’ve worked together to do something remarkable. Go brag on yourself!
If you are not yet a monthly sponsor, just stop for a moment and imagine with us what 2010 would be like to go to work each day with the expressed purpose of saving the lives of a few children in Iraq. What sort of joy would that inject into the daily grind? Might it lift your head on the gloomiest of days to log on to this blog and see the real-time impact of your hard work.
You are so much more than the physical widgets and intellectual nuggets you turn out each day! You are a life-saver! At least, you can be in just two short minutes below… !
|
|
MONTHLY SPONSORSHIP
Time is running out on thousands of Iraqi kids’ little lives. Choose this option to sponsor a child toward surgery for the amount of your choice (entered below). Your credit card will be billed each month without any additional work on your part.
|
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’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. |
Honya is Admitted to Operating Room for Surgery as Mom Tries to Stay Strong
November 9, 2009 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
When Honya first came into our office, I’ll be honest, I did not want to get involved with her or her family. She was - and remains - one of the cutest, cuddliest kids I’ve ever met. Plus I have a soft spot in my heart for little girls. But she was just so waif-like; so skinny; malnourished.
Hadn’t we just gone through something like this with Daryan Salah? I was loath to send another child to die. And yet, it seemed that turning them out at the door of our office in Iraq would actually be just that.
“Triage is the mantle of God.” That’s what our friend Jeff Smith, author of Generation BIG, says. Still, we seem to get stuck making the call on a daily basis. This is one of the reasons we have our Advisory Board and why we strive to make decisions in teams, in consultation with local and foreign cardiologists and surgeons, and with other partnering non-profits like Kurdistan Save the Children (who paid, in part, for Honya’s surgery as a part of our Local Solutions program).
Ultimately, the team decided to take Honya to surgery… and that’s exactly where she is right now. In the operating room, under the leadership of Dr. Sertaç Çiçek.
I’m just as nervous as I was the day I met her in my office. It’s her weight and the pulmonary hypertension that have me scared. These hours in surgery just drag on… the not knowing… the lack of access to updates along the way… the uncertainty about what lies ahead in the intensive care unit as nurses try to wean her off the breathing machines.
It’s a long course ahead… and we still don’t know if we made a life-saving choice. But as we’ve listened to your hearts in our donor feedback sessions, we’ve heard you say that you want us to risk it on the kids that no one else will take. We’ve heard you say that you want to be involved in helping those on the edge of hopelessness. We’ve heard you say that you want your money to give a chance to those who have no other chance…
So that’s what we’ll do. And we’ll leave the results to GOD, in whose hands are all things.
With hope,
Jeremy Courtney
Executive Director
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’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. |
Honya Goes to Surgery First Thing Monday Morning in Istanbul
November 8, 2009 by Joshua · Leave a Comment
Honya Mahdi has been sick with an infection in her right lung… but the pediatrician and heart surgeon have both cleared her for surgery first thing tomorrow morning.
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
|
Joshua Gigliotti is a PLC Summer Intern ('09) turned short-term staff who spends a majority of his time with PLC taking exceptional photos of children in Iraq in an effort to humanize Iraqis and portray them as people full of dreams and hope. When his camera is not in-hand, Josh is often found in local tea houses with friends and also enjoys traversing the great outdoors. |
The Plane, the Airport, the Bus: A Photographic Peek at Our Journey with Three Iraqi Kids
November 4, 2009 by Joshua · Leave a Comment
Vary is two years old and very scared of this new place. She is old enough to recognize doctors as doctors….and given her heart condition, has come to fear them.
This little nine year old, Mohammad, has been great. Very calm, very respectful….I even had him laughing last night as he was getting his EKG.
Honya is a very sick nine month old girl. We are so nervous for her…..she’s the riskiest girl we’re sending.
|
Joshua Gigliotti is a PLC Summer Intern ('09) turned short-term staff who spends a majority of his time with PLC taking exceptional photos of children in Iraq in an effort to humanize Iraqis and portray them as people full of dreams and hope. When his camera is not in-hand, Josh is often found in local tea houses with friends and also enjoys traversing the great outdoors. |
Meet Honya (Twitter: @honyamahdi)
October 31, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Honya is a precious little girl. She is always smiling and giggling despite the lack of oxygen flowing in her blood to her brain and the rest of her body. At nine months old she weighs roughly 12 pounds. She loves music and toys that light up. Dr. Çiçek at the Johns Hopkins affiliated Anadolu Medical Center in Istanbul, Turkey is very hopeful that she will have a full correction and believes that she is likely to benefit significantly from surgical intervention.
Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
—————–
|
|
|
||||||
|
*In accordance with PLC’s desire to lend a hand-up by avoiding strict hand-outs (when possible), Honya’s family has paid $5,000 towards PLC’s highly-discounted surgery prices. |
|||||||
*
|
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 HONYA:
