Sitting at Tala Park clinic, watching waiting patients
Trying not to catch their eyes
As I sketch them from afar
Behind the pillar
That separates me as foreign
I hide
No one greets me but one man
Named James Franklin.
I have nothing to do but wait
For the only woman I know,
Ruma,
And to keep sane,
I draw
The bustle of the busy clinic.
Children are bored
Families come from the countryside for treatment.
A pharmacy, a translator, doctors, health education, physio health, and a school all under one roof
No one speaks English
Everyone is stressfully busy
I don't want to bother them
My fear competes with my curiosity to learn more
To balance the two,
I just watch
And draw
They watch me
What are you doing here?

What am I doing here?