Cultural Assessment of Filipino Culture
Introduction to Andrei Vasquez
The writer met Andrei Vasquez in a Krav Maga class we both take weekly. He agreed to meet with after class on October 17th, 2016 to talk about his culture. Andrei is from the capital Manila in the Philippines, he says pollution is very bad there. He moved with his family to the U.S. in 2012 and has lived in Union City, CA ever since. He is 28 years old and is in “Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation” Erikson stage of growth and development (Erikson, 1982). He is single and living with his parents. Living with parents until married is part of Filipino culture. Andrei is a licensed vocational nurse and is currently working as a caregiver, he wants to one day get his RN and …show more content…
Traditional Filipino medicine is used along with modern in most households in urban cities. In more rural areas they do not have access to modern medicine due to location and lack of funds. They rely on traditional methods using healers such as Albylaryos, faith healers, and masseuse. Albularyos, also known as herbalists, medicine men or folk healer, have little formal education. They use plants as their medicine. Some of the plants they use are garlic, coconut oil, and guava leaves. They are boiled and used in tea. They can be used as an antiseptic. Bitter melon is a fairly new one that is used for high blood pressure (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez) (Stuart, …show more content…
They believe that if they massage someone they absorb the bad juju or energy. Then that bad energy become air. It needs to be expelled in some way so the masseuse will burp out the bad energy (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez).
Andrei’s Current Health Practices
Andrei keeps healthy though a balanced diet and exercise. For instance, his lunch includes brown rice and chicken and vegetables. Exercise includes weightlifting and Krav Maga. Andrei uses Western culture in his health maintenance. Prevention, through a healthy diet and exercise is better than needing a cure. He tries to do everything healthy, he does not smoke and only occasionally drinks (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez).
Problems Related to Health
Andrei is healthy and has no problems related to health. But there are problems in the Philippines, health insurance is not mandatory. Most hospital visits are out of pocket. In the metro area, mostly western medicine. In some parts of the country without access to hospitals the herbalists are used. This all leads to poor health due to lack of access to
Introduction to Andrei Vasquez
The writer met Andrei Vasquez in a Krav Maga class we both take weekly. He agreed to meet with after class on October 17th, 2016 to talk about his culture. Andrei is from the capital Manila in the Philippines, he says pollution is very bad there. He moved with his family to the U.S. in 2012 and has lived in Union City, CA ever since. He is 28 years old and is in “Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation” Erikson stage of growth and development (Erikson, 1982). He is single and living with his parents. Living with parents until married is part of Filipino culture. Andrei is a licensed vocational nurse and is currently working as a caregiver, he wants to one day get his RN and …show more content…
Traditional Filipino medicine is used along with modern in most households in urban cities. In more rural areas they do not have access to modern medicine due to location and lack of funds. They rely on traditional methods using healers such as Albylaryos, faith healers, and masseuse. Albularyos, also known as herbalists, medicine men or folk healer, have little formal education. They use plants as their medicine. Some of the plants they use are garlic, coconut oil, and guava leaves. They are boiled and used in tea. They can be used as an antiseptic. Bitter melon is a fairly new one that is used for high blood pressure (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez) (Stuart, …show more content…
They believe that if they massage someone they absorb the bad juju or energy. Then that bad energy become air. It needs to be expelled in some way so the masseuse will burp out the bad energy (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez).
Andrei’s Current Health Practices
Andrei keeps healthy though a balanced diet and exercise. For instance, his lunch includes brown rice and chicken and vegetables. Exercise includes weightlifting and Krav Maga. Andrei uses Western culture in his health maintenance. Prevention, through a healthy diet and exercise is better than needing a cure. He tries to do everything healthy, he does not smoke and only occasionally drinks (Personal communication, Andrei Vasquez).
Problems Related to Health
Andrei is healthy and has no problems related to health. But there are problems in the Philippines, health insurance is not mandatory. Most hospital visits are out of pocket. In the metro area, mostly western medicine. In some parts of the country without access to hospitals the herbalists are used. This all leads to poor health due to lack of access to