And megan hits the deck...

not really, but it was close. This morning a six year old boy came in with the biggest cut we have ever seen on his forehead. He fell off a horse at about 4pm and didnt come into the clinic until today. His father put some sort of leaf on his head to stop the bleeding so by the time he came and the leaf has started to heal into his cut. When we first saw the cut we didnt think they were going to be able to stitch it becuase it was so wide. I spent about 15 minutes trying to convince a nurse that this kid needed to be seen, while Megan continued giving a penicillin injection. I finally got a woman working in the insurance room to come help. I have no idea if she was certified, but she was the only one who would help. She was shocked when she first saw the wound and couldnt believe that they had waited so long to bring him in. She numbed his head but then needed help, so Megan put on some sterilized gloves and stepped right in. They spent about ten minutes trying to clean the wound and pull out all the leaf particles. The woman scraped away the edges of the skin so she could suture him up without a lesser risk of infection. Megan was doing great and I asked her how she was doing and she looked at me and started to bend her knees. I initially thought her knee was bothering her, but I took a closer look and she was extremely white. I immediately grabbed the chair that the father was sitting in and made her sit down. She wanted to continue to work but I made her walk outside with me. As soon as we got outside she said she needed food. I gave her water and made her sit down. I ran back inside to find money but couldnt find any in my backpack. Another volunteer gave me some money and I ran to the store near the hospital to find some food. I quickly bought crackers, left my change, and ran back to Megan. She was passed out by the time I got back. I was able to wake her up and force her to eat some crackers. I was not thinking and didnt get sugar so when I knew she was stable I ran back to get a chocolate bar. It took her a while to realize what happened. As soon as she did she wanted to go back in and help. She still wasnt back to normal so I walked her back to the restaurant and explained what happened to her. I ran back to the hospital to make sure everything was ok. The boy was alsmost done getting stitched up and he was doing great. I was really impressed with the woman who did the stitches. She did a great job of cleaning it. I just hope and pray that he can avoid infection. It ended up being a good experience for both of us. Megan realized that she needs to stop sooner when she starts to feel faint and I learned that when someone faints sugar is the best thing.

We are still learning a lot and having a great time together. There are gas strikes tommorow and Friday so we may have to change our Macchu Picchu plans for the weekend, but it should work out. Please continue to keep us and the people here in Ollanta in your prayers. Thank you to all of you have written us. We probably wont update till next week.

Much love from Peru,
Kelly and Megan