In a Little Town in Western Province

In a little town in Western Province
Far from the home we know
I looked behind not once
To find a country aglow
From the humble mud huts
To the storming and flashing sky
To the long roads with many ruts
And the people walking by
Every soul here trusts
That life might go awry
And if it does, they carry on
In a way that takes great strength
We might notice a lot is gone
But to them, they may not know the lengths
That we take back home, where our
Resources they would treasure here
While we complain what we've got
To anyone that will lend an ear
Here the gloves are sparse and the staff is worn thin
They had to cancel a day of surgeries because there was no IV fluid in
Here we come with our equipment clean
The money, supplies, and white skin
And struggle to find an in between
From what we know and understand in
This place where our learning
Is turned upside down
Our 'help' is only temporary
But hope can be found
In the local nurses and doctors who work with the sick an ill
Day in and day out, in conditions that might put them in peril
Yet there they stay, as if duty demands it
Because when we leave, they are the ones who commit
In a week we pack our bags and go home to our washing machines
This little town in Western Province will go on as it did before
Save for our hopeful, lasting impact
An invisible footprint of where we have been

-Brishen