From The Green Zone

IMG_3930

Once again, I’m in a new place witnessing things that have never been seen before – because of you. Right now I’m overlooking the Tigris river, blogging from inside the Iraqi Vice President’s home. It used to be one of Saddam Hussein’s fifty palaces, and before that it was a palace for King Faisal.

Now it’s the staging ground for the the city of Nasiriyah’s first Remedy Mission!

Last August, the combined efforts of the Kurdish Regional Government, Living Light International, Kurdistan Save the Children and YOU allowed us to welcome a medical team from International Children’s Heart Foundation to the city of Sulaymaniyah, and we’re honored to be hosting another surgical team.

We call these missions “Remedy” because they’re answers for equipping hospitals, training local doctors, mentoring nurses, and saving the lives of children who no longer have to be sent overseas for a chance at life.

This time, we’re witnessing Remedy take place for the first time all over again in the city of Nasiriyah. Like most Iraqi cities, Nasiriyah boasts a rich heritage, perhaps the richest being the ancient birthplace of Abraham. And like all cities in Iraq, it’s growing and progressing in every way. 

plc sweatshirt

While honoring their past they’re choosing to invest in a better tomorrow. 

Saddam drained the swamps surrounding Nasiriyah, but now they’re reversing the damage and restoring the swamps to their former vitality. Chemical warfare was used against the people of Nasiriyah, and now they’re building the hospitals necessary for treating the fall-out. Saddam gave them eight mass graves, but now they’re choosing to build parks, hospitals, schools, and mosques in honor of their murdered friends and family. 

One of those hospitals is the Nasiriyah Heart Institute, where over 20 children will be given life-saving heart surgery over the next 12 days! Thanks to Living Light International, the Vice President of Iraq, the International Children’s Heart Foundation, and you…tomorrow will be the first day of another Remedy! Stay tuned…

Remedy Missions are international pediatric heart surgery teams that we bring to Iraq to to perform lifesaving heart surgeries and develop the infrastructure for the future. This Remedy Mission is made possible by the Vice President of Iraq, Living Light International, and the International Children’s Heart Foundation. If you’re on Twitter this week be sure to use the #RemedyMission hashtag to describe all the good news coming out of Iraq via @preemptivelove and @babyheart_org. If you’re on Facebook, “Share” this story with the button below.