CR #8 Ask Questions and Make a Difference
The root causes identified in the interview I conducted include shame and embarrassment of the Vietnamese culture which ultimately leads to the lack of oral history and language passed down from generation to generation, the belief that seeking mental health support is considered weak, and pressure from the American culture to be independent and self sufficient. The Vietnamese community seems to be ashamed of their past and the past of their country. Very few of the seniors will share their stories even to their family members. This has led the loss of history and stories from different perspectives as well as a loss of the native language. As a result, there are little to none Vietnamese translators and interpreters to help the senior population. One of the biggest issues identified during the interview is a lack of bilingual staff in the community and a lack of resources to teach the community English. Lieu, the community leader that I had interviewed, had expressed how the seniors do take English classes elsewhere but because the teachers are only able to speak English, the seniors cannot ask questions when they have them. As we have discussed in class, our society especially in the United States emphasizes the importance of being able to articulate oneself in the dominant language. This also speaks to a person’s status and influence. Another issue that has been identified for this community is that seeking mental health in the Vietnamese culture is looked down upon. Leiu gave a wonderful example of this through a story about her sister. Lieu’s sister Mai has a disability and it has left her confined to a wheelchair with the inability to do things such as feed herself. Lieu explains how in Vietnam when she would take Mai out to a place such as the movies, people would stare at them and think that Mai is weird leaving them both feeling embarrassed. Fortunately, when they came to the United States Mai was treated much better. As Lieu put it, the United States loves the disabled! Lieu also mentioned how when she originally took Mai to her care home and had her mental health assessed Mai had asked why she needs to do all of this or even go in the first place because she is not crazy. Lieu explained how the Vietnamese culture often views those with disabilities and those with mental health issues as crazy or weird. They are outcasts. The last main issue we discussed is the push from the American culture to be independent and self sufficient. Leiu had explained how in Vietnam all the families live together. No matter how old or how extended, they all lived in one unit. There was and still is no pressure to move out. She had also mentioned how much ore reliant people are in Vietnam to one another. There it is all about who you know and how to help one another for both parties to benefit. There is a sense of community. Contrasting the social environment in Vietnam is the American culture. Leiu had emphasized how in the United States there is more of an opportunity to seek higher education and as a result, more of an opportunity to make more money and be self sufficient. Although this may be great for some, Lieu explains how the seniors need a sense of community and support. This is something that the communities in Vietnam provided along with values that support it too– something that the American culture lacks.
When conducting further research I found that Vietnamese communities everywhere are affected especially those in the United States. I found that there is almost a 50/50 split between those who speak English well and those who speak less than well in the Vietnamese community. This made me question why interpreters are paid less than similar professions. Specifically in San Rafael the Asian community makes up 4,012 residents making it the third most common racial/ethnic group. I also found that 1.13% of San Rafael residents are Vietnamese speakers and that citizens that are non-English speakers in San Rafael is 19,743. This is 21.1% higher than the national average. When it comes to veterans I found that the San Rafael area has a large population of military personnel that served in the Vietnam war. This led me to look into the mental health of this community and how likely they are or often they are to get help. I found that 74% of Asian Americans who participated in a study conducted by NLAAS said that they has experienced some kind of unfair treatment and 63% attributed such instances to racial factors. When compared to the NLAAS rates of major depression they found that participants who had these experiences were 9% more likely to have had major depression in the previous 12 months.
AAAM has began to address the issues mentioned through a variety of community based activities. The seniors have groups where they are encouraged to participate in the community either through walking groups, exercise groups, or even just groups where they sit, eat, and talk to one another. The seniors are also asked and encouraged to participate in the oral history project where they are interviewed about how they immigrated to the United States, their life in Vietnam, and a variety of other questions about their life and their beliefs. Through these interviews the seniors are able to talk about their experiences and traumas. The groups serve the seniors in a similar way in that it provides them with a sense of community. They find other people who they can relate to and eventually become comfortable with. It is through these relationships that they get support in their mental health. One of the groups also provides mental health support through individual meetings with a mental health professional. This is specifically helpful for those who are not as comfortable revealing personal information to his or her peers. AAAM in a lot of ways is trying to identify underlying issues and address them but it is difficult in a system that is fighting against them. This organization has applied aspects of the ABCD model and social capital but I do believe that if they were to incorporate it more it would only work to support the community even more. The seniors are not used to being asked their opinion on issues and as a result don’t think about what they need or would benefit from. It is important to ask them these questions not only to get them thinking about what the community needs but this would also push them to see more of the resources that they do have as well. When I went to the senior fair with the seniors I noticed that most of them were uninterested in the services being provided. They just wanted the free bags being offered. I am not sure if this was a language barrier issue or if they didn’t understand what was being offered to them. Maybe they thought that all these services needed to be paid for and that turned them away or maybe they didn’t want to bother going through a tedious system to get something when they could survive without it. I think that asking the seniors what they think about issues in the community and encouraging them to think about what would benefit the community will get them to ultimately engage more and in a more meaningful way when it comes to events like the senior fair.
