LIFESAVING HEART SURGERIES FOR IRAQI KIDS IN PURSUIT OF PEACE BETWEEN PEOPLE AT ODDS.
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Jeen Mustafa is Leaving for Surgery on Saturday
July 15, 2010 by Ben · Leave a Comment
Meet Jeen Mustafa. Jeen is currently living with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which affects the two upper chambers of the heart. Her disease creates a hole between the two upper chambers of the heart, mixing the blood going to the lungs with the blood going to the rest of the body. Because of your financial help, Jeen is leaving for surgery on July 18 along with 4 other children with congenital heart disease. Jeen will be receiving a non-invasive surgery through catheter, which also significantly reduces the danger of the procedure.
Follow Jeen on Twitter: @JeenMustafa. Subscribe to Jeen’s updates via RSS HERE.
Two Weeks Away From Surgery, Leah Continues to Grow and Develop
July 5, 2010 by Esther · Leave a Comment
from Preemptive Love on Vimeo.
In a week and a half Baby Leah goes to surgery!
Those words bring so much joy to my heart because they signify the new life that successful heart surgery will give Leah.
Since the last time that we visited Leah, she has continued to grow and develop – rolling over with ease, bouncing off her mother’s lap, waving at others and attempting to hold herself up on her hands and knees.
This little girl, whose birth defects have threatened to steal her life away, now has the opportunity to have that life transformed because of the combined efforts of Turkish heart surgeons working to restore peace with their set of surgical tools along with the willingness of donors like you.
Leah is one of 4 Iraqi children that will be traveling to Turkey on July 18 for heart surgery because of your involvement and desire to combat the unnecessary deaths of children born with congenital heart disease.
Click HERE to follow Leah Ibrahim on Twitter as she gets ready for surgery.
Baroof’s Scar Stands Against Kurdish Terror and Turkish Oppression
July 4, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
The photo above tells the story of an extremely different child than the one we met in March right before boarding a plane to Istanbul, Turkey. Three months ago Baroof received a rare and complicated surgery for his age - a surgery that ultimately has spared his life and ushered in a new season of joy and obvious strength.
But basking in this season of salvation isn’t quite as easy as it might be for other children in other places. Baroof’s family lives on the Iraq - Turkey border, where for years Kurdish separatist rebels (members of the Kurdish Worker’s Party or the PKK) have been mounting attacks against the Turkish government in pursuit of an independent Kurdish nation. In response to the PKK’s terrorizing of Turkish civilians and military personnel, the Turkish government often responds with a blunted hammer where a precision tool might have been more effective.
The activities of the PKK claim to be a response to Turkish oppression. And Turkish heavy-handedness claims to be a response to Kurdish terrorism. And thus, the cycle continues.
Because of this cycle, Baroof and his family have grown up with a relatively monochromatic view of Turks and Turkey – such as “Turks are the oppressors who kill our Kurdish cousins in Turkey and cross international borders into Iraq to kill our family here as well” or something similar.
In March, we helped throw a splash of color on that single story. What was once a black and white issue has been somewhat mitigated by the kind actions of Turkish doctors who give generously of themselves and their skills to serve children like Baroof. The kindness was not lost on Baroof or his family. Now back in Iraq after surgery, they express their gratitude to Kurds around them for the Turks who saved their son’s life, thereby pushing back a single story about Turkish oppression and easy justifications of Kurdish rebellion.
Some of Baroof’s tribal members and distant cousins have died at the hands of the Turkish military. Others likely bare the scars of near-misses and raids gone wrong. But Baroof’s scar is a line of love from your heart, through Istanbul, Turkey, all the way to the border of Turkey and Iraq.
Your financial gifts have enabled Turkish surgeons to write new language into the region.
Baroof starts school again in September. Because of you, his desk will not sit empty this year. Because of you, his Kurdish friends - who might otherwise be enticed into the ways of PKK terror - will constantly contend with the scar on his chest and the technicolor story it tells.
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Dua Looking a Little Unsure as She Waits to be Taken to Surgery this Morning
February 26, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
There’s not much more to say… this picture pretty much captures the uneasiness of this part of the journey. So much hope, fear, trust, and distrust is inherent to the moments right before surgery.
Thanks for joining Dua and her family as they entrust her into the hands of the Turkish team… from their perspective, this is the only chance she’s got. And thanks for all you’ve done to fund her surgery to get her to this point.
Dua’s name means prayer. So as we all remember Dua right now, we honor her parents and honor GOD by entrusting her life to GOD in prayer. More to come after she emerges from surgery…
Follow Dua Arif on Twitter: @Dua_Arif. Subscribe to Dua’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Dua’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Total Correction for Muhammed!
February 25, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Doctors accomplished the total correction they were hoping for with Muhammed. But he came to us with extremely high pulmonary pressure (in his lungs) so the coming days in ICU will be incredibly important.
Special thanks to Erica Fischer of EMF Images for partnering with us to save Muhammed’s life. At the suggestion of EMF’s Erica Fischer, Cameron and Ben (left) donated the sitting fee for their engagement pictures to the Preemptive Love Coalition to help fund Muhammed’s surgery. This ongoing partnership with EMF promises to save a lot of lives in Iraq and engage the hearts of many who thought they were just signing up for EMF’s great photography!
We know there are hundreds of you out there doing amazing stuff like this to save lives. Sometimes we just don’t know what you’re up to! Contact us.
Follow Muhammed Adnan on Twitter: @MuhammedAdnan. Subscribe to Muhammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Muhammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Family Followthrough in Iraq: A Day of Post-operative Testing on Former Heart Surgery Recipients
February 22, 2010 by Jeremy · 1 Comment
Last week we were honored to have some of the excellent medical staff from the Anadolu Medical Center in Istanbul, Turkey make the trip to our office in Iraq to work with us on a few current and future initiatives. Among our agenda for the week:
The video above represents one of our agenda items for the week! In coming days we hope to post a photo narrative about the amazing alumni banquet and a story from local media about the Turkish delegation and PLC’s peacemaking agenda with them.
Don’t forget to push PLAY above to watch hope and life in motion!
Soma, Hamma, Danar, & Mohammed Leaving Iraq
January 6, 2010 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Fearing they are headed into “enemy territory” as Kurds crossing into Turkey for much-needed heart surgery, Baby Soma, Hamma, Danar, & Mohammed ride the shuttle in Iraq to their airplane.
Follow Their Journeys:
Follow 7-month-old Soma on Twitter: @SomaSalah. Subscribe to Soma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Soma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 1-year-old Hamma on Twitter: @HammaDana. Subscribe to Hamma’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Hamma’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 9-month-old Mohammed on Twitter: @MohammedUmed. Subscribe to Mohammed’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammed’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Follow 3-year-old Danar on Twitter: @DanarSami. Subscribe to Danar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Danar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.
Ahmad Out of Surgery! No More Blue Skin! All is Pink & Healthy!
February 17, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
Ahmed is out of surgery. His oxygen levels are already up by 25%. His future is hopefully less blue and a more healthy pink. His dad is crying tears of joy.
Dr. Çiçek at the Anadolu Sağlik Merkezi was clear that this is not a long-term, fully corrective solution; but this first surgery should allow him to finally live long enough to receive the staged surgeries he’ll need over the coming years to actually live a fully functional adult life.
We’ll update with more information as soon as we know it.
Follow Ahmad’s daily updates on Twitter or via his RSS feed.
Taban Comes Through Her Surgery!
February 16, 2009 by Ruth · Leave a Comment
Yesterday at 0900 Taban underwent a 3 hour surgery to close the hole in her heart! Our staff in Turkey emailed last night to say that the surgery went well. We called her family to let them know and they sounded so excited! We’ll update you when we hear more!
You can follow Taban’s progress on Twitter or via RSS here.
Follow us on Twitter
February 3, 2009 by Jeremy · Leave a Comment
The Preemptive Love Coalition has been too busy saving lives to maximize our Twitter account. But we’re ready to dive in fully!
With regular tweets from around the world [Texas, California, Iraq, Istanbul & Ankara (Turkey)] plus travel tweets as we hit up Europe & the UK for more preemptive love for people of Iraq, we hope we can connect with you and learn from you in our collective effort to increase dialogue - and love - between international communities at odds.
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