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)

“Like Landing On The Moon”—Iraqi Doctors Make History In Fallujah!

January 13, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Iraqis in the western province of Anbar just crossed another heart defect off of their “incurable” list. Our team stood by to support as Dr. Firas and his team corrected a defect that had never been fixed in this region of Iraq.

Little Aya, a 4-year-old with a sweet disposition, was born in Fallujah just a few years after the Iraq War’s deadliest battles. Like so many children in her region, she had a heart defect and no hope for help.

But you’ve already heard that story several times over.

What you may not have heard is that many families in Fallujah have decided to avoid pregnancy because of how many children are now born with birth defects.

Living life with no children—this is no small decision in a progeny-focused culture like Iraq’s. Children are a source of great pride, glory, and honor, and choosing to abstain from child-bearing is a big deal. Some parents I spoke with said they wouldn’t take the risk of having a child unless they knew there were doctors who could provide treatment, and that’s a part of the reason why we’re here.

These surgical missions represent much more than a handful of lifesaving operations—though they’re definitely that. These are about offering solutions and hope to families in need. When mothers and fathers are too afraid to have children because of rampant birth defects and no available treatment, that’s a problem that demands a remedy.

Thankfully, Aya’s heart received a total correction thanks to Dr. Firas and the team, and there are many more still waiting. Hopefully she is the first of many!

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Chatting With A Local Hero—An Interview With Dr. Firas (Part I)

January 11, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

Cardiac training programs live or die by the initiative of the local doctors.

Ultimately, this is their program—an investment in them. As soon as they lose their passion to learn, coordinate, and hack through the red tape, the program is in trouble.

Perhaps that is why our time in Fallujah has been so encouraging. Dr. Firas (pronounced fee-rahs) is the only pediatric cardiologist in the Anbar region—Iraq’s largest geographic region and home to a growing number of children with heart problems.

So, given his kindness and compassion for these children, we asked him if he would share a little about his life, his concerns, and his hopes for the future of Fallujah.

PLC: Thanks for taking a few minutes to share, doctor. So why did you decide to become a cardiologist?

Dr. Firas: You know, we’re in Fallujah. There are many cases here; just so many children, but no specialists to treat them. I saw the high percentage of death; all the undiagnosed children; the great need. My first interest was to help my people here…to save their lives, the kids.

PLC: It seems like a lot of cardiologists here get into the field because of a family member who dealt with heart problems—was that your experience?

Dr. Firas: Yes, my father died from heart disease. It wasn’t congenital, but it did help put me on a path toward becoming a heart doctor.

PLC: Now that you’ve completed two Remedy Missions with us and our partners, what do you think? Reactions?

Dr. Firas: The missions were so good—they mean a lot to us. This [heart] center is new, and a lot of people here don’t even know that we have a cath lab and can treat their children. But these missions have brought us a reputation and the people are hearing about our work. It provides us with a good reputation and our people with hope.

PLC: That’s encouraging. What do you hope for the heart center here? Any next steps?

Dr. Firas:I hope to someday see open heart surgery here. I have to send so many cases to Baghdad or outside of Iraq, but I’d like to see children saved with complex cases here, in Fallujah.

###

We share this dream with Dr. Firas, and we intend to do whatever we can to help him fulfill it.

This is only the second of many missions to come—we’re in this for the long haul! Come back tomorrow to read part two of the interview, and consider helping us save more lives in Fallujah and across Iraq:

$5 or $50—Give what you can to help us save lives!

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2013—A Year Of Saving 300 Children Begins Right Now!

January 10, 2013 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

"It always seems impossible until it's done."                               —Nelson Mandela

We ended 2012 celebrating the 300th surgery since our beginning in 2007! As we begin 2013, we are looking forward to 300 more before the end of the year.

This year we aim to double the number of children we have helped in just ⅕ of the time. We will also double the number of cities we are working in and double the amount of education and training we are able to provide—daunting goals. But, really, it doesn't seem too daunting after the mountains we've already scaled together.

There was a time when sending Iraqi Muslim children to Israel seemed like it would never work. Then there was the fatwa that called for our punishment and death for sending those kids to Israel.

Becoming a full-service, turn-key operation by sending children to Turkey once seemed impossible.

Our dream of hosting surgery teams inside Iraq to operate and train locals took years to realize and seemed more than a little crazy when the country was falling apart around us.

And even after we successfully brought these teams to cities all over the country, the idea of replicating it in an historically difficult city like Fallujah seemed even crazier.

But, with your help and with the help of our excellent partners, we've accomplished all of those things—and now we're headed back to Fallujah again.

Remedy Mission XV begins this week. The first step of our journey toward 300 more surgeries begins now!

To take this trip with us and to meet the children you're helping, follow along on the blog and on our Facebook page all week long. New stories every day!

We promise it'll be worth your while.

For the impossible,

Jeremy

5 Children You Helped Save In 2012

January 8, 2013 by matt · Leave a Comment 

My favorite thing about January?

It’s the only month when it just feels right to look back and to plan ahead. A backward glance helps us remember what God has done during the previous year and all that we’ve learned, while a look forward offers hope for betterment and an opportunity to grow.

And who doesn’t love a clean slate—an opportunity to jumpstart things in a new direction? I’m here to tell you, though, that you did some pretty fantastic stuff last year. If your friend is bragging about their new job or some kind of shiny new gadget, please read this part out loud: “I helped save lives last year.”

Is there someone near you right now? Grab their sleeve and say it again, “I helped save lives last year.”

In 2012, you guys raised money, hosted parties, and spread the word on behalf of Iraqi children. There are children alive now who would not be—you’re heroes!

So—in case you didn’t get to meet them all—here are a few of the children you helped save in 2012:

1) Hussain—I don’t know who came up with the “don’t play favorites with kids” rule, but they obviously haven’t met this boy. I’ve adored him since our first game of “air soccer,” and the first thing I try to plan when we return to Najaf is try to plan a visit to see him and his family. He’s a sweet, sweet child and—thanks to you and the Coalition—he is now home and fully alive. Read his whole story here.

2) Yousef—our 2012 vote for the Most Pinchable Cheeks Award, Yousef received a heart operation at our groundbreaking Remedy Mission X in Fallujah. If you haven’t seen some of his adorable facial expressions yet, do yourself a favor.

3) Zahraa—Sweet, solemn Zahraa. I tracked with her from beginning to end, right up until she carried her dollies into the hospital elevator and went home. Click here to watch our video shorts of her trip through the hospital.

4) Hassin—don’t be fooled by his drooping eye lids and ridiculous eye-lashes, Hassin is sneaky. When the doctors told him he couldn’t eat or drink anything before his surgery, he snuck past his family, out of his hospital room, and down 6 flights of stairs to demand that the snack vendor give him food. His parents found him pounding his fists and declaring, “I need to eat or I’ll die!” I’m happy to report that, after his surgery, he snacked to his healthy heart’s content. See more of Hassin here.

5) Maddy—the 300th child you’ve helped us save, this little boy is sunshine incarnate. I still stand by my claim that he’s the smiliest, most pleasant little boy you’ll ever meet. If you missed the excitement of his landmark surgery, check it out here (the video was especially fun to make!).

2012 was pretty amazing, and 2013 is looking even better. Stick with us as things get started—our 15th surgical mission is coming up in Fallujah!

In The News: “Still Raw Wounds Greet US Medics In Iraq’s Fallujah”

September 25, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

A couple months ago, you helped us do something that others thought was impossible: we took an American medical team into Fallujah to save lives.

We’ve gotten used to being considered a little crazy, but Fallujah? Even we weren’t sure what to expect.

This was something new, and it was a massive, collaborative effort. We couldn’t—nor would we want to—have done it alone. Watch the above video to see an AFP story sharing more about that historic trip.

The expertise of our partners, Living Light International (LLI) and For Hearts And Souls (FHAS), made this historic mission a reality. The cultural and historical nuances of a place like Iraq’s Anbar province are vast, but the LLI team’s—and particularly Nadwa Qaragholi and Dr. Wieam Ahmed’s—ability to navigate culture and read between the lines cleared the way and made 7 operations possible during this trip.

But operations don’t happen without trained, competent doctors, which is why we’re also grateful for Dr. Kirk Milhoan and his team at FHAS. They used their expertise to pave the way for more missions that, hopefully, will be able to ease tensions between at-odds communities through the healing of children.

These friends of ours in the battle against The Backlog are invaluable, indispensable, and we can’t wait to work alongside them in Fallujah again soon!

In addition to savvy cultural guides and skilled doctors, these missions don’t happen without you—thank you for doing what others thought impossible!.

Every dollar you give helps us in our effort to eradicate The Backlog in Fallujah, and now we need your help going back.

Help us go back to Fallujah to save more lives by donating below!

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We’re Making History—Three “Firsts” In One Week!

July 20, 2012 by Alicia · Leave a Comment 

This has been an amazing week!
It was so exciting to be a part of Remedy Mission X. It feels like I hear about new firsts every day:

We’re the first American team to come to Fallujah General Hospital since the war.

This is the first cardiac catheterization lab built in the hospital’s history.

This week was the first time the lab is used.

But most exciting of all: this is PLC’s first Remedy Mission in Fallujah. It’s been a week of history in the making!

Some of the most exciting firsts involved the groundbreaking catheterization procedures (‘caths’). We treated 12 children over the week and the first three days gave us a chance to break the cath lab in.

On the first day of the mission, we performed the FIRST diagnostic cath on 2 year-old Balkis. He has two holes in his heart, known as ventricular septal defects (VSDs). The doctors knew he had these holes because of an ECHO screening done by a local Iraqi cardiologist and verified by Dr. Kirk on our first day in Fallujah. To fix them, Balkis will need surgery. But the surgeons have to know lots of detailed information about the hole and the status of his heart and lungs. The diagnostic cath provided that information.

Balkis can now safely have surgery at any hospital because his parents can take the cath report to any heart surgeon and they’ll know exactly what they need to know!

The second day we performed the FIRST PDA closure in 13 year-old Sara. A PDA (patent ductus arteriosus) is an abnormal connection between the two biggest vessels coming off the heart. However, a simple coil placed in the PDA acts as a plug that closes the connection.

It’s incredible that such a tiny piece of metal could have INSTANT results in changing the blood flow in Sara’s heart. Before her cath, I could literally feel the vibrations of blood flowing abnormally. But immediately afterwards, her heart felt normal! Amazing! She is the first of many more children to be cured by caths in Fallujah General Hospital!

The third day, we performed the FIRST heart valve widening on 5 year old Rawan. Her pulmonary valve was too small for blood to flow smoothly which could have led to heart failure. However, Rawan was treated by a cath that used a balloon to physically stretch out the valve. Now the blood can flow normally, and Rawan can be active and play without her heart getting tired out!

All of these “firsts” were exciting for the local Iraqi medical staff, local and international news agencies, and government officials. But despite the thrill of being a part of a “first”, the greatest impact of the new cath lab won’t be seen for years to come, after countless more children undergo procedures at Fallujah General.

Each child who received a cath had their lives changed forever, especially those who received interventional procedures. To them, it didn’t matter whether they were the first or the last, it just mattered that they were able to be treated.

We have the amazing opportunity to change the course of history here in Fallujah and it’s thanks to your support—thank you for making this trip possible! We helped 12 children and spread goodwill through their families on your behalf, and we can’t wait to come back!

Our 85 suture kits are FULLY funded — Thank you for helping fund $765 worth of medical supplies!

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Meet Yousef And His Fluffy, Irresistible Cheeks!

July 17, 2012 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment 

I honestly couldn’t help myself when I saw Yousf and his cheeks. I’m a pretty disciplined person, and I live a fairly regimented life. But his cuteness overwhelmed me and my discipline went out the window!

I normally wouldn’t interact too much with a child in his mother’s arms in a conservative place like Fallujah. But Yousef isn’t your “normal” kind of cute, either.

Within a short time we were playing peek-a-boo, holding hands, and watching Toy Story on the PLC iPad (thanks for helping us buy such an amazing tool for appeasing sick children in the hospital!)

Nurse Molly and Shannon administered Yousef’s sedatives in preparation for his upcoming procedure. He didn’t like the taste too much but we were soon back to playing.

As he sat there trying to figure me out—this impossibly white, foreign hairless guy—his meds kicked in.

Have you ever seen kids fall asleep at the dinner table? My parents have a great photo of me face down in mom’s spaghetti. Yousef was headed that direction. Sitting up looking me square in the eyes, he would slowly fall over, dozing off. He’d gather himself, sit up, and do it all over again.

I try not to play favorites… but come on! Look at those cheeks! Come back tomorrow to see more of this adorable little boy and to hear how his operation went. More to come…

Our 85 suture kits are FULLY funded — Thank you for helping fund $765 worth of medical supplies!

Our Partners: