Reflection Assignment #2

While listening to Dr. Megha Budrah in class, an Indian, talk about her life, I had my “Ah-Ha” moment. She was talking about growing up and how she was always different from those around her. From when she was a child living in Africa and all the African children would surround their Volkswagen, when her mother left them in the car to go into the market. She and her brother would just sit there and pretend they were doing something else while the other kids would try to touch their hair and skin and just stare at them because she and her brother looked so different from the rest of them. I found it interesting how Dr. Budrah reacted to that. She was not upset, scared, nor did she take offence from their actions; she just knew they were curious. When she went to school in the United States everyone around her would look at her but not talk to her because they did not know how to address her. From both of these situations people in her shoes could react in many different ways. They could get angry because people were treating them different, or they could do what she did. She knew she was different from the rest of them and she gave them opportunities to learn about her. She opened up to them, which made it easier for them to open up to her so that they could see past the differences. It made it very educational.

When we see someone that looks or seems different, we freeze up because we don’t know what to do, or how to approach them. We would like to do/say something, but we ask ourselves “what if I offend them?” We need to open ourselves up and allow people to see who we are and let people know of our incompetence so that we can learn from others without offending them
A good example of an action that was taken to develop a more inclusive community was what Dr. Paul Eppinger did with the different types of religions here in Phoenix. Religion is a good way to learn about who people are. Just like the activity that we did in class “the journey to cultural competence”, the one with the Ice berg. Though we look different or talk different if we sit down with one another we could find things that we have similarities with and we can also learn more in depth about each other and what we believe while we do it.
A way that recreation, nonprofit and/or tourism related organizations are responsive to developing a more inclusive community is not to assume anything. In class it said that we can’t assume anything, that it’s better to ask than to guess. When Archimedes Aquino came and talked to our class he told us to be respectfully open about our incompetence to others’ culture so that we will offend as few as possible. By asking, we will know what a person prefers or does not prefer, so we will better be able to serve them in the way that they need.
Following are some great examples of the things that are being done to help the community learn and achieve more of an inclusive community. Dr. Eppinger holds a monthly meeting of religious leaders, where they talk about and plan educational events. Archimedes Aquino gives training in Cultural competency to the workers at the Gila River Behavioral Health Services. On the ASU Tempe campus, the LGBTQ SafeZONE is a place that helps people feel safe and accepted and to promote awareness in the community.