I’d like to share another interesting article in relation to my previous entry on traditional post-partum care in Laos.  The Hmong of Laos are very spiritual people, and as evidenced by their post-partum practices, their beliefs can often be extreme and potentially harming to the physical body according to scientific discovery.  This is all good and well, until a medical doctor tries to help a Hmong woman manage her diabetes wherein she will not comply with treatment.  Her beliefs are holding her back from receiving the medical care she needs, but by diminishing the importance of her beliefs her soul has no strength. 

A progressive hospital in California that serves a large community of Hmong people has added a new service to their repertoire of medical care: Shamans.  “A doctor for disease, and a Shaman for Your Soul,” the article states, which is not a bad idea no matter the culture.  To make things even more exciting, the medical staff have been training the Shamans on basic levels of pathology diagnose and treatment, to enhance understanding in the community.  The Shamans don’t take money and aren’t employed to be there on any other volition than their own vocational requirements.  The idea is that the influence of the Shaman will bridge the gap between treatment and beliefs, an idea that I think is simply marvelous.  The best part is that neither party have to compromise and true healing can begin.  Check it out at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/20shaman.html?_r=1

A wonderful book that I would like to recommend is:  The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, which follows a true story about a young girls battle with epilepsy and the trauma caused by the misunderstanding of deep-seeded cultural beliefs of the child and her family.  Not only is it phenomenally written, but it demonstrates the successes and failures of both spiritual dogma and scientific medicine.