1: What are you trying to accomplish?
2: What's your evidence that you can accomplish it?
3: How is it possible that you can provide an open heart surgery in Iraq for less than $1,000? Is that the full cost?
4: So is that the same thing as saying that my donation doesn't really make a difference? That the "up to 85%" funded locally by those inside Iraq is all that is really necessary to make this work?
5: Any other costs?
6: What is the bottleneck to more surgeries: money or skilled labor?
7: I'm skeptical of non-profits and charities because they always seem to be asking for more money. How can I be sure that Preemptive Love Coalition has "room for more funding" and that I'm not paying into a huge savings account, "Rainy Day Fund", or something similar?
8: Do you have enough volunteer surgeons available for unfunded Remedy Missions? (i.e., are there trips that you could fund if you had more money, or is there a labor bottleneck?)
9: Many heart surgeries require follow-up treatment (including additional surgeries). Do you have a way of providing these to patients?
10: How do you assess whether surgeries are completed competently and appropriately?
11: What is the rate of complications during and following surgery?
12: How do you assess whether surgeons are performing additional surgeries that they would have not had the funding or motivation to perform otherwise?
13: How do you assess whether surgeons are charging their patients for the surgeries you fund?
14: Do you follow up with the surgeons you've trained to assess whether they are correctly applying their training?
15: What information is available on the activities - and competence - of the surgeons you've trained?
16: Where do surgeons work after completing training? Do they serve poor patients?
17: How much do you spend each year on "program" expenses and how much on "overhead?"


----------

 Q: What are you trying to accomplish?

A: Train Iraqi heart surgeons and nurses so they can eradicate the backlog of tens of thousands of Iraqi children waiting in line for lifesaving heart surgery. [Back to Top]

 Q: What's your evidence that you can accomplish it?

A: Each year we continue to increase Iraq's total number of pediatric cardiac surgeries with new surgeries in Iraqi centers that would not - indeed could not - have been accomplished otherwise. Ministry of Health (MOH) officials speculate 500 surgeries were accomplished in 2009 (of which we provided 23 - 4.6% - outside the country). The addition of our 82 surgeries in FY 2010 - to the 500 baseline - for a total of 582 approximated surgeries, represents an increase created by PLC of 14% over 2009. In FY 2011 we anticipate increasing Iraq's total number of pediatric cardiac surgeries to at least 719 (or another 19% over FY 2010 directly attributable to our surgeons and our training).

Each year the local teams with which we work will become more proficient, and each year they will independently take on a larger case load than they could have the year before. None of these figures yet account for that additional output.

In March 2010 the Iraqi Ministry of Health asked us to expand our work to three additional sites. In May 2010 we began additional discussions about establishing a fellowship program in which international surgeons and nurses would take up residence in the Iraqi system to train locally for 40 weeks out of the year.

Our model does not rely strictly on volunteers because the level of need in Iraq outstrips what we could reasonably supply through volunteer labor alone. Accordingly, we set our budgets so as to actually contract the international surgical and nursing staff we need to accomplish our mission.

Sure, this increases the cost-per-mission (and thereby, cost-per-child) over early "mission" models in which volunteerism was idealized and training was not necessarily prioritized. But our contract labor + volunteerism model is inarguably the only way to create a nationwide quarterly training program and fellowships inside Iraq with international experts across approximately 6-8 surgical sites. Moreover, our model does not face the same sluggishness of learning that other surgery organizations suffer because we do not have the same rates of turnover; we have incredible consistency across our programs and missions. [Back to Top]

 Q: How is it possible that you can provide an open heart surgery in Iraq for less than $1,000? Is that the full cost?

A: The "less than $1k" numbers we routinely publish represent the amount in "program costs" we spend from our international donor money. The figure does not necessarily account for every single management, overhead, or fundraising expense.

Our total expenditures for FY 2010 were $188,919. We performed 82 surgeries during the same period for a per child total of $2,304 (though this data is a bit moot moving into 2010-11 as we abandon our very expensive "surgery exports" program(s) in Turkey, etc. and focus henceforth on more cost-effective in-country surgeries alone).

When all of our Remedy Mission partners are taken into consideration - including the Iraqi Government, medical companies that donate medicines and supplies, and local organizations - the real Remedy Mission cost to all donors is in the range of $5,400 - $7,000. Put another way, up to 85% of the total cost of a single surgical/training mission is now subsidized by local, Iraqi constituent institutions. [Back to Top]

 Q: So is that the same thing as saying that my donation doesn't really make a difference? That the "up to 85%" funded locally by those inside Iraq is all that is really necessary to make this work?

A: There is not a single site across Iraq for which our Remedy Missions are fully funded. If we fail to provide our 15-19% of the overall budget, Remedy Missions fail, surgeons and nurses do not get trained regularly, on-site audits from our international team do not happen, up to 20 children are delayed from receiving surgery, and a few may even die or become inoperable. Your role in funding the remaining 15-19% is as critical in the short term as any other entity. A single Remedy Mission is binary - it either happens or it doesn't. Your money makes it happen. But our goal is to continue to graduate all our programs so they are 100% funded locally in the next 5-10 years. [Back to Top]

 Q: Any other costs?

A: Our numbers per Remedy Mission do not account for "indirect costs," such as the cost (or value) of our volunteer medical staff from around the world, costs to local healthcare systems, the cost of a family to travel to the surgery site, the opportunity costs of lost income for families as they wait for surgery, etc. The reason we think it's important to note this here is because lifesaving is actually quite difficult. Building a pediatric cardiac surgery system for the entire country of Iraq is laborious and full of complexities. [Back to Top]

 Q: What is the bottleneck to more surgeries: money or skilled labor?

A: People often assume that the biggest need is more Iraqi heart surgeons. We could use a few more, but the real bottleneck is skilled nurses, technicians, and non-surgical physicians. A surgeon is only as good as his support staff. One of our biggest challenges is training pediatric cardiac intensive care nurses. To date, we haven't found a better model than our Remedy Missions through which we bring quarterly hands-on training to local nurses (and surgeons) in Iraq. Rather than exporting the nurses to Europe or the USA for training (whose medical systems barely resemble the Iraqi system), we train them with what they have on hand in their local environment. [Back to Top]

 Q: I'm skeptical of non-profits and charities because they always seem to be asking for more money. How can I be sure that Preemptive Love Coalition has "room for more funding" and that I'm not paying into a huge savings account, "Rainy Day Fund", or something similar?

A: For the record, we are skeptical of non-profits as well! In 2012 PLC needs $350,000 on hand at any given time to cover our cash flow needs for up to three Remedy Missions per quarter. We are still 30% under-funded against that goal. In addition to cash flow needs, we still require 15-19% funding on most of our missions after local sources contribute their portion; we have un-funded pilot programs in new cities where local doctors have been requesting our help (but where weve yet to woo local philanthropists or health directors); and we have research and social service initiatives through our Followthrough program that require funding at present because we have not yet sought local funding for those initiatives (seeing as how they relate mostly to our Monitoring & Impact Evaluation objectives). Please see our "Funding Gap" page to look deeper into our anticipated program costs, the sources of funding we are counting on, and the funding gap between the two for the next few years. [Back to Top]

 Q: Do you have enough volunteer surgeons available for unfunded Remedy Missions? (i.e., are there trips that you could fund if you had more money, or is there a labor bottleneck?)

A: Great question! We use a hybrid volunteer/staff model. Roughly 25-30% of any one of our Remedy Mission teams is employed by the International Children's Heart Foundation (typically the surgeon, scrub nurse, anesthesiologist, ICU doctor, and often a part-time ICU nurse). The remainder of the team typically comprises volunteer physicians, technicians, and nurses from across the world. Because the hardest-to-come-by positions are contract labor for us and NOT volunteers, we have never failed to run a mission for lack of personnel. We have only cancelled or turned down a request for a future mission due to lack of funding. [Back to Top]

 Q: Many heart surgeries require follow-up treatment (including additional surgeries). Do you have a way of providing these to patients?

A: Yes, we do. Our model dictates quarterly visits to each program site (a hospital inside a regional hub). Our reliance on local cardiologists ensures that the local team prioritizes and almost entirely sets the agenda for patient selection (within a development curricula) - after all, Iraqi doctors are the ones who are most intimately connected to the patients and their daily progress! When a local cardiologist sees a child who has either (1) deteriorated and requires another intervention or (2) advanced as expected to the next step of a complex, staged intervention, the child is prioritized for follow-up treatment. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeries are completed competently and appropriately?

A: Because we are a broker and play a combination administrative and financier role in the coalition of partners working in Iraq to develop pediatric cardiac care, we are able to stand in-between the local surgical team and the international surgical team (whom we contract as a third-party to train and perform surgeries in Iraq). If the local team or health directorate suspects a lack of competence in the international team, a cavalier attitude, or a single poor judgement call, our role is to be the go-between - to be the advocate for the local healthcare providers vis-a-vis the international surgical team.

Similarly, if the international surgical team feels pushed by the local surgical team to perform procedures with which they are uncomfortable or for which they think the local system is ill-prepared, they are able to refuse children for surgery and/or use us (PLC) as a go-between.

The checks-and-balance between the two teams helps us ensure surgeries are performed in a competent, appropriate manner. [Back to Top]

 Q: What is the rate of complications during and following surgery?

A: We report our in-hospital and 60-day mortality after each Remedy Mission. You can finds those numbers here. We also produce reports after each Remedy Mission detailing the trip, including data on intraoperative complications, post-operative complications, and mortality. You can find those reports here. We are also deliberately raising the funds necessary to help us bring our various heart hospitals into compliance with the International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Surgery in Developing Countries. If this kind of quality improvement and reporting initiative interests you, we are currently looking for financial partners for our Followthrough program. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeons are performing additional surgeries that they would have not had the funding or motivation to perform otherwise?

A: Pediatric heart surgery in Iraq is almost nonexistent without our work. There are two active programs for relatively simple surgeries (one in Erbil and one in Baghdad). Local surgeons claim that combined they perform no more than a few hundred pediatric surgeries a year. In every location where we work, pediatric heart surgery is effectively nonexistent. Therefore, every surgery performed at our program sites (both when we are present and when we are not) are "additional surgeries" that they would not have had the SKILL to perform without the FUNDING we employed to train them in their local environment. [Back to Top]

 Q: How do you assess whether surgeons are charging their patients for the surgeries you fund?

A: Because we work in public (government) hospitals - and because healthcare in Iraq is provided almost entirely free of charge - it is widely known that any cardiologist, surgeon, or administrator seeking compensation for services is acting outside of Iraqi law. [Back to Top]

 Q: Do you follow up with the surgeons you've trained to assess whether they are correctly applying their training?

A: We see them quarterly in their local environment and perform real-time audits of their skills, recollection of past training, application of new techniques, etc. Additionally, our international surgeon remains on call at any time via phone, Skype, or email for consultation. [Back to Top]

 Q: What information is available on the activities - and competence - of the surgeons you've trained?

A: Because our Remedy Mission training program only began in late 2010 - and pediatric heart surgery at our sites across Iraq is the same age - there is still relatively little independent practice to report, and therefore little data on the activities and competence of our surgeons and their teams. But as they begin performing more surgeries independently, we are trying to align each site/surgical team with the International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Surgery in Developing Countries (a data collection and tracking initiative of Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard University). [Back to Top]

 Q: Where do surgeons work after completing training? Do they serve poor patients?

A: As of Q2 2011 there was only one private hospital in Iraq (to our knowledge) providing pediatric heart surgery (and those surgeries were on the lower end of the complexity scale). Our work does not necessarily mean to exclude private hospitals as they continue to come online and become viable options, but at present the government system has a better equipped foundation for training local surgical teams. As we look to fully graduate our local surgical teams in the next 5-10 years, we imagine that most of them will stay in the public sector for all of the stability, pensions, and benefits of loyalty provided to those who stick with it. But, undoubtedly, some will seek positions at private hospitals (assuming private hospitals are willing to invest in the requisite capital purchases necessary to establish a credible program). In the public sector, rich and poor are served alike. In the private sector, poorer patients would be at an obvious disadvantage. [Back to Top]

 Q: How much do you spend each year on "program" expenses and how much on "overhead?"

A: As a rule, we do not adhere to the model that claims that "overhead" is somehow bad and "program" is somehow good. There are very bad program expenses. There are overhead expenses that are excellent investments. We agree with Paul Brest, President of the Hewlett Foundation, when he said, "Achieving a low overhead ratio drives many charities to behaviors that make them less effective and means more, not less, wasted dollars." Therefore, we spend as much on overhead as we need to accomplish our mission. The mission itself is our North Star - not arbitrary (even harmful) standards about overhead-vs-program expenditures. For the record, however, you can find a current pie chart of our expenditures here (and if you're into that sort of thing, you'll probably be impressed!). [Back to Top]

Jeremy Courtney Founder, Executive Director Twitter: @Jeremy_Courtney

“I'd love to hear any critique or questions you might have!”

DROP A NOTE OR DONATION BY MAIL: Preemptive Love Coalition 1300 Darbyton Dr. Hewitt, TX 76643 GIVE BY PHONE: To make a gift over the phone, using your credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover), please call +1 (806) 853-9131 during normal business hours. IRAQ OFFICE: +964 770-355-6298 (local)

It’s Working!

May 23, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

“In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, and look around you.”
—Leo Tolstoy

We’ve spent a lot of time looking ahead, casting vision. And for good reason, because we’re working for the day when The Backlog is just a memory and local doctors are saving lives all on their own.

But during our trek toward that day, we often look straight down at our feet, and we forget to enjoy the trip. So let’s take a minute to do so!

Developmentally speaking, last April’s Remedy Mission to Fallujah went over like a dream.

Dr. Firas, whom you’ve met before, had everything lined up for our team when we arrived. The initial echo screening process was the best kind of uneventful, the operations were all successful, and—the best part—the team performed 16 operations in just three days!

On our first mission to Fallujah, the team worked with Dr. Firas and his staff to perform 12 procedures in four days.

On the second mission, they did 16 procedures in five days.

And now 16 kids in just three days?

That, my friends, is progress!

Ask any teacher—tracking a student’s progress can be difficult. Is the information in one ear and out the other, only useful for an exam and then promptly forgotten? Or is the student learning and actually applying newfound knowledge to his life?

Thankfully, Dr. Firas and his team are the latter. They’re helping more children in less time with fewer complications. Of course, they still have a lot to learn, but they’re learning—and that’s something to celebrate!

To everyone who has donated to make these three missions possible in Fallujah: thank you!

We are doing this because of your generosity—onward!

Invest in these doctors by making a donation!

Our Partners:

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.

Overcoming Tragedy—How Do You Do It?

April 25, 2013 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

Some weeks, it feels like the whole world is on fire.

Earthquakes, coups, murder trials… I couldn’t believe the updates moving across my screen as friends at the Boston Marathon updated in realtime.

We just finished Remedy Missions in two of the most bad-mouthed cities in the country: Tikrit and Fallujah. The headlines from the last decade might lead you to believe these places are full of sad faces, in a perpetual state of despondency.

But the Iraqi and American responses to tragedy aren’t that different: in the midst of fire, they are banding together, pressing on, and overcoming.

At every juncture, we encountered positive people who had weathered storms. Troops at checkpoints greeted us warmly, families moved in and out of hospital rooms to distribute medicine and pray for each other, and, of course, doctors and hospital staff provided life-changing operations for sixteen children!

You can get caught up on stories from our last two missions in Tikrit and Fallujah here.

But I would love for you to share your own story with me. How are you seeing beyond ‘the fire’ and staying positive when faced with bombings in Boston and explosions in West, TX?

Email me at your convenience. I would love to hear back from you.

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.

Saving Lives, Sans Surgery—Why Diagnostics Are So Important

April 24, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

The girl in this picture was misdiagnosed as a baby.

Her family thought she needed surgery. They waited and worked, wondering if their daughter’s heart would give out.

As she gazed at the image of her heart beating, her father shared how hopeful they were that their daughter would get well.

Minutes later, he got his wish. After years of carrying around the wrong diagnosis, his little girl had a healthy, defect-free heart all along.

We’ve introduced you to a lot of sick, blue children over the past 5 years, but we haven’t always shared stories of already-healthy children. Thanks to highly trained cardiologists like Dr. Kirk, Iraqi children are receiving top-notch diagnostics testing in the form of preliminary echos, TEEs, and diagnostic catheterizations.

“We don’t do as many diagnostic caths in the US as we used to because we catch most heart disease early, before we have concerns about operability. Internationally, the situation is much different,” Dr. Kirk explained.

Over a span of # years, Dr. Kirk has screened hundreds of children across Iraq, and they’re often well beyond the ideal age for diagnosing a heart problem.

“Many of the children we see are being diagnosed or considered for surgery at a time which is much later than what we see in the west. The diagnostic cath tells us if a child is appropriate for a surgery or if a child would probably live longer if we didn’t do anything. There are many children who we think are inoperable because of their age, but we take them to cath and find they are indeed a good candidate for surgical repair. In this case we’ve probably added years to their lives by getting them repaired.”

In short, good diagnostics inform decisions, illuminate the situation for doctors and in-the-dark family members, and they save lives.

“The diagnostic cath isn’t as exciting as an interventional procedure to most, because, even if the news is favorable for surgery, another procedure is still needed.

If we can get away from focusing on what’s done today and look at what was learned today and what is best for the child, we realize we positively change the lives of children with a diagnostic cath.“

“Diagnostic caths either allow children to be repaired safely, or they prevent them from being harmed by surgery.”

Diagnostics take dollars—help us make it happen by donating below!

Our Partners:

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.

Save The Children, Lose My Soul?—How I’ve Failed The Children I’m Working To Serve

April 18, 2013 by matt · 4 Comments 

Today I met a little girl named Israa.

That’s her up there with that soul-perceiving, Mona Lisa-gaze. You might be surprised to hear I wasn’t initially affected by her cute intensity (cutensity?). In retrospect, this was not the first time I’d simply snapped a photo of a child and moved on, emotion-free. Children that would have previously melted me on the inside had become… dare I say it—objects of charity.

Of course, I still want them to get well—I work for it every day—but the thrust of my compassion has taken a serious hit.

Attending six Remedy Missions, seeing waves of sick children held by desperate parents, and a dispiriting amount of post-operative death has taken a toll on my soul.

Our teams are now helping save more children then ever. But with every death, my emotional kevlar got a little thicker, and even the cutest kids like Israa couldn’t pierce it.

Is that really what we are aiming for? Hundreds of children whose lives are being saved by people who are barely affected as they serve? And, on a practical level, how can I do my job and connect you with these children if I’m not even connecting with them?

This is not the preemptive love we talk about, and, thankfully—while we do struggle at times—it isn’t a typical characteristic of our team.

But that’s just it—it’s a struggle. It has to be. Preemptive love takes risks for the sake of another. It stays vulnerable in the face of inevitable pain; it keeps compassion personal. And this applies to a lot more than just Iraqi children. Whether it’s your marriage, a friend struggling with addiction, or a tribe in the African bush, keeping compassion vulnerable takes work.

So back to my question: how do you continue to be vulnerable, emotionally present, and affected by those you’re seeking to love?

For my part, I’m committing to a few things: spending more time at the bedside of kids (without my camera), learning more kid-friendly Arabic phrases, and stuffing my bag with more play-things, like bubbles, Angry Birds and coloring books—and I want you to hold me to it!

And you? How do you keep from going numb, activating the defense mechanisms, or just giving up? What measures do you take?

Either comment below or email me—I’d love to hear from you!

Our Partners:

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.

“He may only have days to live, but I think we can save him”— A Life Saved At The Last Minute

April 16, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

One of my favorite things about Dr. Kirk and his team is how big-hearted they are. Local families can sense the sincerity of their compassion, and it makes a big difference in the ‘feel’ of the mission.

It’s that same compassion, though, that had us crammed into an echo lab/storage closet at midnight last night, looking at children’s hearts, and it’s that compassion that kept admitting one more family for screening.

“Please, just help one more.” is a hard request to ignore when it’s shouted from a waiting room packed and pleading. In this case, the request came for a little boy named Abraham.

Scratching his chin, Abe’s uncle tried to remember when it started: “For about two months we were basically living in the hospital.”

The entire family rallied around this little boy as he spent nearly two months in the hospital, struggling to breathe. The doctor in Abe’s hometown told the family he had a lung problem, and that Abe might need ‘new lungs’—something the family didn’t really understand and something they certainly couldn’t afford.

When a friend told them about our Remedy Mission in Tikrit, Abe’s family decided to get a second opinion. Unfortunately, Abe missed the cut and was scheduled for a check-up on the next mission. It was nearly 1am last night when both the list and the doctors were exhausted, and they decided to pack up for the night.

But the local doctors pleaded, “There’s just one more little boy. Will you please see him?” Dr. Kirk relented.

Abe’s family carried him in, and Dr. Kirk was shocked by what he found.

Abe had huge amounts of fluid in his chest that was pressing on his lungs and making his heart work too hard.

Dr. Mary, the interventional cardiologist on the team, worked with local doctors to successfully drain the fluid around Abe’s heart. “I don’t think he had more than 2-3 days to live—I think he’s the reason God has us here this week.” she said after.

On behalf of Abe and his elated parents: thank you. You’re saving lives.

Give now to bring hope to more children like Abe!

Our Partners:

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.

No Holding Back—Dr. Mohammed Finally Gets His Chance!

April 12, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Dr. Mohammed, the cardiologist-in-training here in Tikrit, just assisted in the region’s first-ever pediatric catheterization.

He was shaking with excitement after finishing!

The lead interventionalist, Dr. Mary, handled the lion’s share of the teaching, and she can now add “Tikrit” to her list of groundbreaking procedures. She has performed similar ‘first-evers’ in Fallujah, Mongolia, and Kosovo, in addition to the work she does in the United States.

We talk a lot about children who don’t have options for surgery, but the same is true of many Iraqi doctors. Dr. Mohammed shared told us, “There is no way for me to do this without teams coming to Tikrit. I am very happy to have the team here.”

So thank you for sending tremendous teachers like Dr. Mary to train Dr. Mohammed—they’re making history!

Our Partners:

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.

Like Freshly-Fallen Snow—Why I Love First-Time Remedy Missions In A New City

April 12, 2013 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

I’m in Tikrit, Iraq—the small, “home base” city for strongman/dictator Saddam Hussein—for Preemptive Love Coalition’s 18th Remedy Mission.

As we pulled into the city last night, we were stopped at the main checkpoint gate to the city by a few friendly, welcoming Iraqi national police. They apologized for the inconvenience and the necessary delay, but they had to be sure to fully document our arrival into the city and ensure that we had the proper permissions and escorts to enter in. 

As we sat between the massive concrete and sandbag barriers, I got out of the taxi to talk to the police, government officials, and local doctors who had arrived from the nearby hospital to welcome our team. Standing there at sunset, laughing with new friends on the eve of a history-making healing mission, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with this simple thought: 

“I love new beginnings!”

I got back in the taxi and said something to that effect to the rest of my team. “I love first Remedy Missions—program launches in new cities where we’ve never worked before.” 

One of the visiting nurses asked what I liked so much about them. With Tikrit being the sixth city in which we’ve worked to launch long-term surgical development programs, I rattled off this list: 

—newness
—naivety 
—the belief that this time will be better than everything we’ve done in every other city to date
—the smiles and hospitality
—the sense among so many that these healing missions stand for so much more than heart surgery
—the hope
—the hustle and bustle of trying to make things that are broken work again (or for the first time)
—the possibility

Preemptive love is a critique of the status quo. Preemptive love says “This is not good enough.” Preemptive love says, “With God’s grace, we can be changed. And if we can be changed, then we can change our city, our country, and our world.”

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.

Highlights From Our Remedy Mission XVI

April 2, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

Today is the last day of our Remedy Mission here in Najaf!

We still have a full day’s work before we head home tomorrow, but here are some highlights as we wrap up Remedy Mission XVI.

—Getting to meet Hama, Kadeeja, Musa, Ali, Diya, Shakir, Mohammed, Noor, Zainab, Zahara, Mahdi, and Yousef. All twelve of those children received lifesaving operations this trip!

—Watching one of our local heart surgeons completely correct a heart defect – without any help!

—Witnessing our cardiologists screen close to 200 more children.

—Sitting down with the local medical team to talk about longterm development and the training they want to receive this next year.

—Being overwhelmed by the gratitude and joy expressed by all the families of those we served this mission.

Thank you so much for making this mission possible.

I’ve said this before, but we haven’t provided a single heart surgery in Iraq apart from the support and generosity of others.

You give; a child is saved; peace is waged. It’s a cycle we can’t continue without you, so thank you!

As soon as I leave here, we’ll start preparing for two more Remedy Missions this month in the cities of Fallujah and Tikrit.

You can be a part of the community that makes those operations possible by donating a few dollars below.

Peace from Najaf.

Give now to bring hope to families in Tikrit!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

I’ve Never Been So Excited To Not See Hama!

March 26, 2013 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

I walked into the ICU today to check on Hama but he wasn’t there. This is great news!

On my way to the hospital this morning, Hama was having his wires, tubes, and IV’s removed because he was given the green light to leave the ICU.

By the time I arrived, he was already upstairs in the hospital ward.

Walking into his room was a welcomed change of pace for everybody. The room wasn’t full of monitors and rusty oxygen tanks. It didn’t even have any nurses in it. It was just him and his mom and Tom & Jerry on the television.

The things we got to talk about today are completely different than before. Instead of talking about the operation and the risks involved, now we’re talking about what lies ahead. Things like when he can play soccer again, when he can swim, and when the scar will be his only memory of his heart defect.

These are the best conversations to be a part of.

Thanks for showing your support for Hama. He’s almost home!

Our Partners:

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Is There Room For Failure In Development?

March 23, 2013 by Cody · 2 Comments 

You know that old Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”?

It’s true. In fact, I remind myself of this on a weekly basis. It’s an ethos that defines and directs our vision for Iraq.

And that’s why none of us will say our jobs are easy.

If we’ve ever made these lifesaving heart surgeries and our vision of developing heart centers across the country look easy—it’s not. In fact, it’s the most challenging vision we’ve ever tied ourselves to.

I love fishing but teaching a man how to fish isn’t the same as teaching a man how to delicately correct a heart defect, and throwing another fish in the boat isn’t the same as helping a sick child recover in the ICU.

But the principle holds fast—if all we do is provide lifesaving heart surgeries, our impact is immediate and measurable. If we teach locals how to provide these lifesaving surgeries, our impact is enduring and immeasurable.

Just providing lifesaving heart surgeries would be much easier for us as an organization. It would take a huge burden off of our minds and souls each week. We would succeed a lot more at our work. We certainly wouldn’t fear failure as much.

The only problem is that it’s too small of a vision. There’s a greater vision out there for Iraq, but it involves a whole lot of risk, sweat, and the possibility of setbacks and failure.

If we’re going to fail at something, we want it to be something worth failing for.

Every child in Iraq deserves to be within a day’s drive of a lifesaving heart surgery, and we think that’s worth going toe-to-toe with setbacks and failure.

Why am I talking about this?

Because it’s something I’m dealing with right now on this Remedy Mission.

There have been five lifesaving heart surgeries so far—which is great!

But, remember? It’s not all about surgeries. It’s about teaching and developing a local healthcare system that can do this all on their own one day. And, honestly, that vision has had a lot of setbacks this mission.

Mistakes have been made. Things have had to be taught again. We’ve taken a step back in some areas and in other areas we’ve had to go back to the very beginning.

It’s just an occasional reality in development, and it’s the reality right now for our work in this heart center.

But we press on. We teach it again. We go back to the beginning and retrace our steps.

We’ll wake up tomorrow, grab our fishing poles, and get back to teaching because, some days, it’s just a tough day fishing.

So what visions are you backing right now? Are they too small but guarantee success every time? Or are they big and worthy enough to take risks and face setbacks for?

Is there a place for failure and setback in development work?

I hope so. If anybody tells or tries to show you different, I would question their vision.

Our Partners:

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Next Page »

SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTER






Get our good news stories straight into your reader or inbox for free!


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.

• Popular Tags

  Amman Arab Basra BSSL Buy Shoes. Save Lives. buyshoessavelives CHD children Congenital Heart Disease Development development in Iraq echocardiogram Fallujah heart heart surgeries Heart Surgery hope hospital Hussein ICHF ICU International Children's Heart Foundation Internship Iraq Iraqi children Istanbul Jeremy Courtney Jordan Klash Kurdistan living light international LLI najaf nasiriyah PLC preemptive love coalition Remedy Mission Remedy Mission I Remedy Mission II Shia cities Shia Iraq Southern Iraq Surgery Turkey Wordless Wednesday

• Archives

  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007

• Contributors

  • Jeremy Courtney (323)
  • Matt Willingham (157)
  • Cody Fisher (119)