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)

This Month, Celebrate The 300th Child You’ve Impacted!

December 8, 2012 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Amazed. Inspired. Grateful. That’s how your generosity makes us feel.

Don’t believe me? Just ask the hundreds of children you’ve impacted these past 5 years—like Nivar, Kadeeja, Deeya, and Hussain. Better yet, ask their parents, their school teachers, or their brothers and sisters.

It’s true—in 2012 you’ve helped us save more children in more places than ever before by bringing our Remedy Missions to 5 different cities across Iraq. You’ve helped us launch Remedy Fellowship, the #1 surgical training program in Iraq, providing thousands of hours of essential training for Iraq’s doctors. You’ve helped us save children who were on the brink of death and others who were diagnosed as “untreatable.”

These are your accomplishments. These are real children that you helped save.

And it’s those accomplishments that are leading us to our 300th operation this December!

It’s going to be a beautiful month in Iraq; not just because of what you’ve already done but because of what we have the opportunity to do next.

This Christmas, we’re celebrating the 300 total operations we’ve provided by saving another 300 lives!

Next year we will have the opportunity to double our total surgeries, but we need your help this month to make it happen!

So, to celebrate the exponential ways in which you're saving lives, we're asking for your help to provide the lifesaving sutures, heart patches, and medicines that we need to save the next 300 children.

Please click here to provide these children with the lifesaving heart patches and medicine they need.

Will you act today and help us save hundreds more in the coming months? Just click here now.

P.S. – Our required medical supplies range from as little as $9 to $1,000. And you can be sure your gift makes a difference, because each gift can save a life! They're the perfect way to honor a loved one, friend, or co-worker this Christmas!

Our Partners:

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.

Watch Our Animated Manifesto!

April 24, 2012 by matt · Comments Off 

Over the last few months we’ve seen an incredible influx of new readers and supporters, so it seemed good to put our most informative and successful video to-date back on the blog.

Whether you’re brand new or if you’ve been here a hundred times, watch it and let me know your reaction. Is it naive? Spot-on? Over-the-top? Email me!

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.

Three Ways Our Vision Was Too Small—And How It Has Matured (Part 1 of 2)

March 27, 2012 by Jeremy · Comments Off 

A few weeks ago we ran a short series on cultivating vision… these posts were not perfunctory. They were, in fact, my own practice of establishing the Preemptive Love Coalition with my wife, Jessica, and Cody Fisher.

In our earliest days we said our mission as an organization was to “eradicate the backlog of children in Iraq waiting in line for lifesaving heart surgery.” But the best visions and missions are dynamic, almost alive; they mature. And we are excited to bring you along in our vision as it has matured in recent months.

We have learned a lot more about this field in which we work than we knew when we started out. Additionally, the country and the individual regions of Iraq have changed drastically since we arrived. There were numerous occasions in which we said, “Does our mission still fit?”

Below are three ways in which we realized our vision was “off”:

#1: The Math—How We Saw the Problem

The math does not add up for us to “eradicate the backlog” on our own. Indeed, our vision in 2007 had largely to do with 700 known children in one Kurdish province who were in need of surgery; we now know about thousands waiting in nearly every one of Iraq’s 18 provinces. And we estimate 6,000-11,000 new children annually are born in Iraq with congenital heart defects.

How we see the problem determines how we shape our vision for the future. A problem with 700 localized constituents might warrant one vision. A nationwide problem with perpetuity and tens of thousands of constituents likely calls for a different vision altogether.

#2: The Method—How We Addressed the Problem

Local doctors set the stage by telling families there were no solutions in Iraq for their children who needed heart surgery. That was true. So families, local development experts, political figures and doctors all asked us to assist by sending children outside the country. 

On the one hand, we met a real need. On the other hand, we lacked imagination and delayed the development of long-term local solutions.

 It took us almost three years to imagine and implement our Remedy Missions—a far better use of resources to create local-led solutions for this local problem.

#3: The Message—How We Talked About Solutions

Because we began by exporting the Iraqi congenital heart disease problem to others countries, we largely failed to factor local healthcare experts into our vision for the future. We worked with one local cardiologist, but when we talked about our solution for “eradicating the backlog”, we largely talked about you; the donor—and how you were the solution to all the ills facing these dear families. 

We set up web pages and called on you to save the lives of children like Aras, Shad and Nivar.

 We still call on you to help save lives—but we feel much more keenly today that our message has matured, because our methods are finally dependent on locals. And that has happened because both statistics and ethics compelled us to see the problem differently.

###

In part two of this post we’ll actually articulate our vision as it has matured. Come back next Tuesday to read more. In the mean-time, why don’t you contact me with your own thoughts and stories about vision? Please email me at your convenience. I would love to hear from you.

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.

Our Animated Manifesto

August 5, 2011 by Ted · 1 Comment 

Allow me to introduce PLC’s newest video!

If you’re unfamiliar with our work, we consider this our manifesto. Everything we do boils down to this belief: reconciliation happens through healing.

With your help, that which has been destroyed and ‘unmade’ can be rebuilt. It can be healed.

—

For all you video connoisseurs, what did you think? Give us some feedback in the comments section below, or connect with us on Vimeo.

Ted is making the magic happen as PLC's videography intern this summer ('11). He'll be the first to tell you: he shoots and edits to the glory of GOD and the benefit of Iraqi kids. When he isn't panning his camera, well... just go here to read just a few of Ted's lovable idiosyncrasies. He's also an avid Tweeter: @tedvid.

Remember Nivar?

May 21, 2011 by Lydia · 2 Comments 

There are people in my life whom I haven’t seen in months and probably won’t see but once a year. When we meet again, we’ll spend most of our time discussing what’s happened since the last time we talked, trading stories and catching up on all the details. But when it comes to this particular Kurdish girl, it’s all different.

As an intern last summer I connected deeply with 8-year-old Nivar. Her sweet personality won all of us over, and her striking eyes captivated many of you. Her case was urgent and her parents’ money tight, but after a few pictures and stories, the donations poured in. You made it possible for Nivar to get surgery in Turkey last July.

I went with her, and I spent most of my free time in her room playing hand-clap games and learning the Kurdish names for colors. Without any language we became fast friends. I was there during her operation, and the photo below is the last I saw of her before leaving Istanbul for America. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.

But this morning, after 10 months, I got to see Nivar again. I was both nervous and excited. I couldn’t remember any of my Kurdish colors, the names of animals, or the rhyme we’d used in our hand-clapping games. We were greeted at the door and ushered into the house by Nivar’s parents. Just then, Nivar came running in from a back room, healthier than I’ve ever seen her. She seemed shy at first, very quiet and polite. After a few minutes I went out to the car for something and Nivar followed me. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheeks, then started laughing and speaking Kurdish.

Not understanding a word, I quickly grabbed what I needed and let her pull me by the hand back into the house where she led me past all of the grown ups and into her room. First thing? Hand clapping games. We played with her doll, a toy piano keyboard and a story book written in English.

When her dad came in to call us to lunch she spoke hurriedly to him in Kurdish. He laughed and pointed at Nivar, then at me, and said carefully, “I love you”. My heart smiled. I remembered in the hospital in Turkey when Nivar had sent the same message through her (non-English speaking) father to me the morning of her heart surgery.

After lunch Nivar brought out her parent’s point-and-shoot to take pictures of me, her favorite way to tease me for the millions of pictures I’ve taken of her. It was so great to watch this little girl run around the room laughing; its hard to believe its the very same girl who could hardly catch her breath the last time I saw her.

As we got ready to leave, Nivar smiled and said something shyly to one of the Kurdish-speaking PLC staff. “She wants you to be her sister,” they translated.

My friendship with Nivar ranks high on my list of PLC Summer 2010 memories. Watching her grow more and more sick as her surgery approached, then actually standing at the foot of her operating table while doctors worked to correct her heart condition created an unforgettable bond between me and this little girl. 10 months later, I’m ready to start another summer of memories with Nivar and others like her.

Lydia Bullock wrote and photographed for us during the 2010 summer internship and then again for 7 months in 2011. She documented surgical missions in northern and southern Iraq. See more of her excellent work on our Flickr stream, or follow her on Twitter: @lydiabullock.

Jeen and Chro Head Back to Iraq with Healthy, Happy Hearts

August 10, 2010 by Jeremy · Comments Off 

It has been a long two weeks for Jeen and Chro (and their guardians) as they’ve both waiting for surgery and taken a slightly longer recovery course than the others, but their day has come and we are filled with joy! All the work has paid off for these two as they are discharged with “fit to fly” reports for their Tuesday flight to Iraq where they will be received by extended family and welcomed home into a deluge of kindness and spoiling attention!

Their departure marks the end of another successful surgery group for us and that means you have now helped 62 children receive the urgently needed heart surgery that they so desperately needed. All 62 of these children you’ve helped needed to travel outside of Iraq for surgery – a stressful journey separated from family, in a foreign culture, full of difficulties that extend beyond an already difficult situation. But with our Remedy Mission on August 15th, we are changing that when we begin facilitating surgeries inside Iraq for the first time.

Over the course of two weeks Remedy Mission will serve up to thirty children who would otherwise die without treatment. For the first time we will be able to save lives in a way that maximizes your investment, trains local doctors for the future, and invests deeply into the future of Iraq.

We cannot save lives without you. If you like what we do, please take three minutes to become a monthly sponsor and saves lives every month.

Our Partners:

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.

Dad Beams with Pride as Nivar Enjoys Her Healthy, Happy Heart at Home in Iraq After Surgery

August 7, 2010 by Jeremy · Comments Off 

photo by Heber Vega

On July 18th Nivar left Iraq in urgent need of a lifesaving heart surgery. In the airport that day she almost passed out numerous times. We have known of children with heart defects dying in the airport on their way to surgery. It was a scary time.

Today Nivar is back at home in Iraq with a healthy, happy heart because of you! Her surgery on July 20th resulted in a total correction. And, of somewhere along the way she captured our hearts and the attention of thousands around the world!

If you are looking for change you can believe in, you don’t need to look any further than Nivar. She was a happy child at risk of losing her life when we met her. Within just a few weeks you came together to provide the money she needed for a lifesaving heart surgery. And now you have enabled her to be at home enjoying her newborn baby sister, playing soccer outside with her brother, and ready to start up school again with greater focus and energy in the Fall!

Wouldn’t it be nice to make that kind of impact every month? Wouldn’t it be great to go to work each day with a child like Nivar in mind as a way to focus on something greater than your job?

Why not become a monthly sponsor and join us in the biggest impact gift you can for kids in Iraq?

Our Partners:

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.

American Donor & Volunteer Shares From Front Lines of our Work in Iraq & Turkey

August 6, 2010 by Timothy · Comments Off 

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.

That is how I felt when I dodged a father running to see his daughter’s doctor following the completion of her open heart surgery. His wait to see his daughter was not quite over, yet as I dodged out of his way it was obvious that any news was the most important thing in the world to a helpless father who could do nothing to rescue his daughter from an unseen foe.

There were honestly a few moments that rivaled this one during my short three days spent at Anadolu Medical Center with the Preemptive Love Coalition. When the constant issue at hand is that of life and death, the meaning of both is unavoidable. Although I’ve followed and supported PLC for three years now, the personal interaction with the children heading to surgery and their parents was a gift I was not quite prepared for. As I sat outside at the hospital coffee shop with Nivar’s father, still waiting to see his daughter for the first time since surgery, I could feel the anxiety and helplessness surrounding him and was reminded of the gift of loved ones. Every healed heart at Anadolu Medical Center is a child saved, a future restored and also a family preserved.

One of the greatest blessings in working with, giving to and supporting an organization like PLC is the knowledge that what you are doing is truly meaningful. And let me tell you partners, supporters, donors and friends of PLC, your investments and partnerships are truly worthwhile! Your efforts and funds go directly into saving childrens lives, preserving families and renewing futures. From all over the world, you are affecting lives of real people for the better. I’ve seen it. And these people are thankful.

One particular issue that was brought to light during my week with my friends at PLC was that ethnic struggles do not have to result in war, racism or death. Addressing ethnic and religious tensions can also result in life, in reconciliation, in hope for the future. For every political struggle that takes place in order to get a Iraqi child to a successful surgery in Turkey, there is also a celebration of life, a reconciliation of enemies, and a hope of a child’s future reborn.

Finally, it seems the shared response from all parties involved is one of doxology, “thanks be to God.” That is truly amazing, and it is something I will always choose to be behind.

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.

Our Partners:

Tim Mason is a friend and supporter of PLC who works with college students in Waco, Texas. Some of his greatest joys include learning, giving people second chances, playing any sport imaginable, and drinking chocolate milkshakes.

Nivar is Clear to Return to Iraq with a Happy, Healthy Heart

July 26, 2010 by Jeremy · Comments Off 

Everyone was cheers and smiles today when we found out that Nivar has been given a clean “fit to fly” bill of health. Initially she was cleared to go home to her mom, older brother, and brand new baby sister in Iraq on Thursday, but seat availability on the flight has caused us to push her back until Saturday. Still, this is the moment! This is the moment we work for so hard – to see these kids well enough to get on with their lives. To declare that they don’t need us anymore – at least not in the same way they once did.

We could not have done this without you. I hope you have enjoyed seeing Nivar go from her village in Iraq to heart surgery and back. With a sparse staff in Iraq for Fall 2010, we will probably not have very many updates on Nivar in the coming months. But we will do our best to keep you apprized.

She is planning on being back in school – with a healthy heart and lots of energy! – in September! You’ve made this happen. You’ve given her her life back. You’ve given her energy and a chance to make a difference in the world. You’ve given her family love and hope. We are overwhelmed today at your kindness and compassion and the solidarity you’ve shown with Nivar’s parents.

With you,

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: @JCourt.

Nivar Rests in ICU Extubated and Breathing on Her Own

July 23, 2010 by Jeremy · Comments Off 

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: @JCourt.

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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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