Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Reflection

For the second reflection paper I chose to write about the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. When I started reading this book, I had no idea what I was going to read about. I learned many new concepts on the culture of Hmong and their views. A brief section of the book also was about how they came to America and the experiences they had while doing so. I learned that there was a secret war in Laos that caused a tragedy among the Hmong people leaving them to abandon their homes in the mountains. Another impression I learned from the book is that Hmong are set in their culture and have many different views on certain phrases, items or ideas. For example, in the book it states that Lia was diagnosed with a spirit who caught her, when
They had no idea how to cook on a proper stove, how to drive a vehicle and many other simple daily duties that Americans were taught. I also was shocked when Lia had her seizures and was brought to the hospital. They had no interpreters to translate. The doctors had no idea what to do to help Lia. They simply just did whatever they wanted to her, which was a misdiagnoses. Eventually, I felt that the doctors were sincerely trying to help Lia and her family. It made me upset that Lia’s parents would not let the doctors do what they had to do to treat Lia. Throughout the book, it was always a misunderstanding of what had to be done. This is something I feel could have been addressed so Lia’s parents did not have to endure the extra stress. Another part in the book that upset me was when child protective services came and took Lia away without making sure Foua and Nao Kao knew the circumstances of why she was being taken away. Again, something that could have been differently so Lia’s parents did not just think they would ever see their child again. I definitely felt that there was no apparent strategy to help our American culture relate to the Hmong culture. Towards the end of the book I was happy to see that Foua and Nao Kao were understanding that the doctors were helping Lia, and the doctors were understanding of the home remedies Lia’s parents wanted to do. I felt happy for the amount of care Lia was receiving. She had loving parents, and a loving family who visited her every day. She truly was a happy child until she could not express herself anymore. Even when she was stuck in a bed, she received great care from her