Introduction: The book “Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman was published in 1998 tells the History and the story about immigrating the Hmong Family from their home country Laos to the United States of America, the main reason of the Hmong Family’s immigration is because of the “Silent War” that occurred in Vietnam which led to starvation and the place is no longer a livable place. After relocation the Hmong Family to California with their thirteen children, Foua (mother) had to deliver her fourteenth child Lia at Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC) which is very different birth than the other children births that she had in Laos, which occurred in the house in a peace environment. Once Lia was born, she looked healthy, and her weight was normal. While she was still young, Lia was diagnosed with epilepsy which is a physical disease that effect the nervous system.
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The Latehomecommer by Kao Kalia Yang is a beautifully crafted memoir. Yang’s distinct prose style is captivating combined with her powerful narrative about the Hmong immigrant experience in America creates an unforgettable and insightful piece. She masterfully captures not only her story as an immigrant, but that of her whole family and to some extent the entire culture. Yang’s use of voice, particularly her use of a distinctly different more child-like voice when depicting her younger self, is a large contributing factor to what makes this memoir so unique and engaging. In The Latehomecomer, Yang captures the voice of herself as a child in a way that is so effective that it inspired me to go back through my memoir and attempt to do the same.
Larsen, P. D., & Hardin, S. R. (2013). Culture and cultural competence. In I. M. Lubkin & P. D. Larsen (Eds.), Chronic Illness Impact and Intervention (8 ed., pp. 343-367). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
In their pursuit of assimilating and calling the US home, they had forged a new identity of Hmong Americans. (Yang, 203) Being Hmong American meant striving to move up the economic ladder and determining one’s own future. They understood that for them to realize their American dream and their “possibilities”, it could only be done so through “school”. (Yang, 139) Yang realized her dream by attaining a Master’s of Fine Arts from Columbia University and publishing books about the Hmong story.
I thought it would be an interesting idea to enlighten and inform people about the Lao Iu Mein and our process of immigrating to the U.S. as well as the challenges we have to overcome. I interviewed my parents, Lao Iu Mein refugees who immigrated to the United States from Thailand. Through this interview, I had a chance to hear for the first time the story of my parents' struggles and experiences as they journeyed to a place where they became "aliens" and how that place is now the place they call "home."
In the play And When We Awoke There Was Light and Light by Laura Jacqmin, she analyzes the ethical issues revolving around service in America. The main character Katie, struggles with this common ethical issue just like all other Americans when making a life decision that challenges one’s morals. Katie struggles with conflicting messages about service, not being fully committed to helping David, her pen pal from Uganda and then realizing in the end that David is more important than Harvard.
The Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam and Laos, greatly value their culture and traditions. The film “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America” documents the seventeen year journey of the Hmong Shaman, Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America. This film shows the struggle of Paja Thao to maintain their 5000 year-old shamanic traditions as his children embrace the American culture. Moreover, the film shows that one of the major problems refugees like Paja Thao and his family face upon their arrival to the United States is conflict with the American medical system. Despite the dominant biomedical model of health, the film “The Split Horn” shows that
However, culture is not restricted to ethnicity, race, or religion, and we are all part of many different subcultures that exist within other cultures. Subcultures may include areas of interest such as cancer survivors, senior citizens, and may even represent common needs, such as the specific needs of the homeless. “Understanding the complexities of culture from the perspectives of the providers and the recipients of care is critical because culture pervades all aspects of health care as it does all aspects of life” (Schim, Doorenbos, Benkert, & Miller, 2007, p.
Share the story of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures.
Union between two quarrelsome objects can be the most amazing creation in certain situations, take for instance, water. Originally, water was just hydroxide and hydrogen ions, but together these two molecules formed a crucial source of survival for most walks of life. That is how marriage can feel, it is the start of a union that without this union the world would not be the same. A Hmong mother, Foua took it upon herself to perform a marriage ceremony for the author of “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”, Anne Fadiman. In this miniscule event, two cultures with completely conflicting ideas came together to form a union. In this union, an American was celebrating an event in a Hmong way, truly a collision of two cultures.
Lia lee, a little Hmong girl, has a severe case of epilepsy. She is the daughter of Nao Kao and Foua lee who are among the many Hmong refugees that fled to the U.S. The Hmongs are very simple and proud people. They take pride in the fact that they have never been ruled by anyone. Even though they have been driven away and separated many times they always seem to find themselves and their culture, never seemingly adapting to the major culture. Even when French missionaries settled in their area and brought their western ideals, medicine, religion, and values they never really accepted them. Fadiman stated in her book that in reality, “no Hmong is ever fully converted” (35).
In “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, the whole story revolves around Lia, the thirteenth child of Lee family. Lee family was a refugee family in USA and Lia was their first child to be born in US. At the time of time of birth, she was declared as a healthy child but at the age of three it was founded that she is suffering from epilepsy. In the words of western or scientific world the term epilepsy mean mental disorder of a person and in Hmong culture, epilepsy is referred to as qaug dab peg (translated in English, "the spirit catches you and you fall down"), in which epileptic attacks are perceived as evidence of the epileptic's ability to enter and journey momentarily into the spirit realm (Wikipedia, 2014)
She heard about the Hmong through a friend, and so she spent 4 years living in Merced, California and another 5 writing this book. She attempts to stay fairly neutral in her writing, though through her time with the Lees, she confesses that her writing may appear biased toward the Hmong culture rather than toward the Americans. However, in the end she could not blame one side or the other for the unfortunate tragedy of Lia, who got hit in the cross-fire between these two cultures. Her theoretical view is a type of cultural relativism. Neither the Hmong nor the Americans could emerge as the better culture. She does not address any questions about direct unethical practices. The Hmong did not practice human sacrifices, and the animals they did sacrifice were theirs. She does seem to believe that every culture has its weak and strong
Anthropological studies on language and communication would be directly related to Lia’s case for a few reasons: Lia and her family were Hmong, her parents could not read or write, they didn’t give her enough medication. Also, Lia was taken away from her parents because of language and communication barriers that led to her parents not administering her medication at all, as well as interpreters not being clear about what to give her.
“An individual’s culture shapes how he or she understands, seeks, reacts to, and expresses feelings about health care throughout the continuum of wellness, including presickness, sickness, and recovery” (Marzilli, 2014, p. 230). Understanding how culture can impact a patient, their needs, and beliefs can improve patient outcomes and improve satisfaction rates.
In Hmong’s, they have their own traditional beliefs in which they hardly ever alter due to a different atmosphere. Some of the Hmong beliefs are they prefer traditional medicine, are culturally active, host ritual ceremonies, and are spirituality influenced. In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, refers to the Hmong culture and their beliefs on medicine while their baby Lia Lee, is suffering from epilepsy in which they have a hard decision. Traditional Hmong’s have their own medicinal beliefs which they obey prior to obtaining Western medicine. The gulf between Western medicine and Hmong health beliefs is an impossible abyss. Also, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down describes the life of Hmong refugees assimilating to the American culture which brings challenge to Hmong traditions.