day1.

January 10, 2011
It’s that time again, for another big campaign. I like campaigns, but they are exhausting! The campaign is at KM 6- in a small village called Los Mangoes. Oh, and the kicker this week is that we have to keep the clinic at KM 8 open as well. So that means that Cecilia and I are going to be working in the morning at KM 8, then we have to make lunch for everyone and take it to them at KM 6 and then we all work there in the afternoon. AND we are doing VBS every night on top of everything else. It’s going to be crazy.
Today was the first day so as usual we started late. We had to go make copies of our patient papers and we needed 700… That’s a big number. It took an HOUR! But, we are in Peru, and things always start late so it all ended up ok. :) The morning went well, and our friend Wendy (a girl from the community at KM 8) is helping us out with triage this week so that’s definitely wonderful. She is also helping us make lunch every day. She’s just super. :) This afternoon I think I gave about a million patients a shot- it seemed like every prescription that came thru needed a shot. But, it’s good practice and I really like giving shots so I’m not complaining.
I think working alone at the clinic this week is going to be good for me- it’s a good chance for me to speak Spanish without having any help. Haha. That sounds funny, but I am feeling sooo much more confident than when I first got here. I remember our first clinic and how incredibly terrified I was about everything because I had NO IDEA what to do. Now, it’s all like second nature. I’m not scared to talk to people anymore and I know so much more about the meds and how to explain things to people. It makes work a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable. When I first got here I never thought I was going to be able to understand a whole sermon, or have a conversation, or answer questions… I just felt so intimidated at first, I just didn’t know how it was all going to happen! But it did!!
So, I guess I can say things are looking up, and I’m trying to work on my attitude. I’ve been praying a lot, and I at least tried to pretend I was ok today. It actually worked for most of the day. I felt better today than I did last week. Little by little, day by day things are getting better. Thank you, Lord.