The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. by Anne Fadiman

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. The first segment of the title describes epilepsy described in Hmong; the subordinate clause overviews the storyline – the conflict between the immigrant culture and the dominant institutions.

Brigham introduced me and I chose to read given 3 yrs intensive + 6 yrs active involvement with the Minnesota Laotian community; added upon with 4 years intense Haitians in Florida. Sherwin Nuland said of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale, just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, in their humility and their frailty--and their nobility." Its a tragedy of epic proportion. People who have life and death needs to successfully communicate never effectively succeed; instead they build fences where bridges are needed.

All who interact with differing cultures benefit from learning to listen with perspective of understanding the foundation of differences and the possibilities of commonalities.

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“If you can’t see that your own culture has its own set of interest emotions and biases how can you expect to be a successful with someone else’s culture”

If the first encounter between Lees and the doctors had asked a different set of questions and trust each other; results might’ve been different.

The following are examples of questions that might be extrapolated to other situations – not the exact same questions for yours.

1 – What do you call the problem

2 – What do you think has caused the problem

3 – Why do you think it started when it did

4 – What do you think this sickness does; how does it work

5 – How severe is the sickness will it have a short term and long term effect

6 – What kind of treatment do you think the patient should receive what are the most important result you hope she receives from the treatment

7- What are the chief problem is the sickness has caused

8 – What do you fear most about the sickness

Upon reflection I realized my first relevant experience went back to when I was 18-21. My first college roommate was a great guy from Calgary Alberta Canada. His family very much like mine - demographics, education, religion, financial and social orientation. He was definitely more like me than the other dorm freshmen from Idaho and Utah. With the latter there was a cultural gap but my perception of Canadians they were very much like me. So I assumed that most people in Quebec Canada will be like my roommate from Alberta Canada. Perception and my understanding of Canadians remembered experience in college burst when I had a Quebecois companion - we couldn’t be more different : raised in an orphanage, private Catholic school, very poor, uneducated and illiterate. Those externals were the tip of the iceberg of differences in culture and lifestyle. In my case uncovering my assumptions led to an entire fresh view of Quebecois and Canadians.

The book is from 1997, the lessons are too late for Lia and those Hmong among us then, but now? For you, and me, perhaps we can learn and improve how we interact, perceive, (judge?) but definitely accept and understand. Read the book if you need clear illustration of the issues, gaffes and gaps that can be created in cultures coming together.