The essay "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall" was written by Anne Fadiman. This story explains the hardships faced by Hmong refugees after migrating to the United States from Laos, and in particular we are introduced to the characters of Foua Yang and Nao Kao Lee who fled Thailand in 1979 while trying to escape communist rule and persecution. In particular, Fadiman analyzes and describes the complexity and difficulty of trying to integrate two different cultures causing a cultural gap between the Hmong and the American medical system. The book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall” can show the importance of building a trusting relationship when working with clients in a social work environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In Fadiman's narration, the book outlines some very depressing and unique situations while all the characters in the book are very real and relatable. In the Hmong culture, and typically in other Asian cultures, their medical heritage is very ancient and connects laterally to their religious beliefs; this cultural way was one of the many challenges involved in their fusion with the American lifestyle and culture. Throughout the chapters, Fadiman highlights the different struggles and hardships endured by the Hmong people through the story of Lia Lee, a young Hmong girl, daughter of Foua Yang and Nao Kao Lee, who was diagnosed with epilepsy. Lia was the last born of fourteen children and the first child born in an American hospital - Merced Community Medical Center (MCMC). Her mother, Foua, had given birth to all thirteen of Lia's brothers and sisters in Laos. Three months after her birth, Lia began having frequent and violent seizures. At age four, a skeptical shock caused her to become mentally retarded and unresponsive. Describing her character, adoptive mother Dee Korda described her as "one of the most loving children I have ever taken care of". Lia was loving, a loving child who suffered greatly from the side effects of the medicines she had to take for her ailment. She was spoiled by her parents and they gave her what she wanted when she wanted it. Her family continued to show her love and support and did not stop caring for her even in her vegetative state for over twenty-five years. Against all odds, however, Lia continued to live, even without any form of life support. Because of Lia's condition, her values ​​and cultural norms were not as well delineated as those of her parents. Lia's family's cultural identity outlines the distinct ways in which people adhere to "various strongly held beliefs and doctrines established by their cultures." Hmong culture bases its practice on spirituality and even with Lia's epilepsy, her parents viewed the practice of medicine and her illness as closely tied to the divine in spirituality. Fadiman in many cases evokes Hmong history to highlight the details and events of Lia Lee's medical turn of events. Fadiman addresses the history and context of the Hmong ethnic identity in several chapters, which he identifies as "independent, insular, anti-authoritarian, suspicious, stubborn, proud, choleric, energetic, vehement, talkative, funny, hospitable, generous." This is a characterization he gleaned from tracing the Hmong back to 2700 BC, when they denied communist rule by the Chinese. From that moment, he argues, they resisted submitting to any form of rule that could compromise their traditions and way of life, particularly in Lia's case, explaining and justifying why Nao Kao and Foua refused tocomply and accept Neil and Peggy's treatment plan. for Lia as "agreeing with their medical theories would have contradicted their own beliefs". Within the same culture, not all Hmong are the same. Likewise, Fadiman outlined culturally significant historical landmarks to provide readers with a framework for understanding the beliefs and making sense of the decisions made by the Lee family and other Hmong, beliefs that might otherwise seem incomprehensible and lead to fanaticism. Fadiman also outlined the cultural significance of Hmong folktales and myths, as many of them summarize the attitudes and behaviors of the Lee family that American doctors like Neil and Peggy found so difficult to understand. With the conclusion of the book, we come to the conclusion that the Lee family's cultural practices and actions were not "blind stubbornness nor contempt for Lia", but were simply doing what they saw fit for their daughter's health according to their beliefs and cultural norms . Because of her illness, Lia did not have the freedom of human development. She became ill at a very young age and lived in a vegetative state for twenty-six years of the thirty years she survived. Her condition denied her the choice of who to be, what to do and how to live. He did not have the privilege of attending school and receiving an education as this opportunity ceased after he suffered his first seizure at the age of three months. This epilepsy defined the structure of his thirty-year life. On the contrary, giving credit to my parents and the adults surrounding my family, I have had the opportunity to live a very healthy lifestyle to this day. From the infancy stage through development to adulthood, I have been consistently able-bodied without any type or form of mental or physical disability. I have had the opportunity to start and complete all levels of education: primary, secondary and tertiary level, giving me access to higher paying careers in the future. My ethics and cultural beliefs as an African are similar to those of the Hmong culture in terms of the strength of family. African families tend to be large with an average of around five children per family. Leah had thirteen brothers and sisters. From a religious point of view I am of Christian faith. I believe in one God who exists eternally in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I believe that the human body is made up of three fundamental elements: the flesh which is the physical component of my being, the soul which animates the body and lives in the flesh and the spirit which allows us to communicate with the spiritual realm and communicate with God . The Hmong, on the other hand, follow the Buddhist faith. Through the tradition of animism, he believes that “spirits live in a different realm and are independent of physical bodies.” They believe that a person has twelve souls. This soul is different from the spiritual world as it dwells in the physical world unlike spirits. They strongly believe in the presence of the supernatural. The challenges I would face in addressing my prejudices about Hmong culture and having Lia as my client would definitely involve religion. Christianity is a very dominant religion practiced throughout the world, so embracing the Hmong culture of a shamanic culture through a neeb healing ceremony to try to return Lia's soul would have been extremely challenging, especially since Lia herself initially when the family sacrificed Lia's pig was skeptical about the process until she was under the spell xiv neeb. The difference in religious practices may dissuade me from feeling and expressing genuine empathy towards Lia and her family during this difficult experience. Because Lia was so young when she initially became ill,.