For the immersion project, I selected to observe the Hindu culture as represented by the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). I selected this culture because I have always been interested in India and its religion. Moreover, my friend, a member of ISKCON, offered me to visit one of the Sunday services in the temple of the society. Hindu culture is very closely connected to religion. Thus, even though I was unable to talk with real people from India, I acquired a deep sense of the Hindu culture at the ISKCON temple. Hindu culture lies upon the idea that we are not our bodies, and we should be ascetic to disassociate ourselves with our bodies. At the same time, people take good care of their bodies and everything around them, as they see everything as God’s gifts. From the outside, the culture can be distinguished from others, as the wide majority of Vaishnavas are vegetarians, they wear traditional Indian clothes, and stay away from intoxications, including tea and coffee. People from this culture like to cook prasad and give it to all their friends and relatives.
Cultural humility is crucial to human service providers as it helps to understand the needs of service users from diverse cultures and make ethical decisions. Cultural humility increases care providers’ awareness of the culture of service receivers through self-reflection and introspection (Campinha-Bacote, 2019). Developing cultural humility is crucial for human service practitioners, as it helps to follow the ethical standards for human service professionals. In particular, cultural humility helps to prevent imposing personal cultural biases (Campinha-Bacote, 2019). The immersion project helped me realize that culture is not always dependent on race and nationality. Cultures may differ considerably within one small community, and human service practitioners need to understand that. I also learned that observations of activities and communication with members of cultures help to develop cultural humility. It was an unforgettable experience.
Reference
Campinha-Bacote, J. (2019). Cultural compatibility: A paradigm shift in the cultural competence versus cultural humility debate—Part I. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 24(1).