From CNN.com
Iquitos, Peru (CNN) — Nearly 21 years ago, Patty Webster landed her dream job as an adventure tour guide in the Peruvian Amazon. But as she shared the area’s beauty and culture with tourists, she realized there was a darker side to the rainforest paradise.
“I saw how poor they were and realized that people were dying because they didn’t have medical care,” Webster said.
She started sharing her supplies with the locals and soon began waking up to find people waiting outside her mosquito net to ask her for medicine. At one point, Webster — who had no medical training — gave someone stitches, following instructions from a book.
“It was kind of scary,” she recalled. “If they’re depending on me for their health care … we’re all going to die.”
That’s when she decided to stay and do something more.
Since 1993, Webster has been bringing medical relief to some of Peru’s poorest and most remote areas through her nonprofit, now known as Amazon Promise.
Watch her amazing story at http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/18/cnnheroes.webster.peru/index.html
For more information on Patty’s efforts, go to: http://www.amazonpromise.org/
