LIRS stands for welcome in many different ways. One of the projects I’d like you to know more about is Higher. Higher builds and connects the diverse community of employment professionals, employers and neighbors who support refugee and immigrant self-sufficiency through employment. Every other week, I’ll share some of the best content from Higher’s blog.
Friday Feature: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (1997) by Anne Fadiman
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman tells the story of a Hmong refugee family and the cultural differences that complicate their interactions with the US medical community.
This book is a classic that many of you may already know about. It has been cited as an argument for greater cultural competence in the medical field. Since it was written, community interpreting standards have become increasingly responsive to the needs of immigrant patients, in part as a result of the human, cultural and medical issues outlined in this book.
What resonated for me when I first read this is best captured in a quote from the book: “Our view of reality is only a view, not reality itself.”
Check back on alternate Wednesdays for more of the best of the Higher blog!