African Canadians & Biracial Individuals

I learned a lot about the African background and their history as slaves in this presentation. I also learned that they celebrate certain holidays such as Kwanzaa, Black History Month, Caribana and North Buxton Homecoming. They explained in the presentation that Caribana is basically a festival to celebrate the religion of the Rastafarian people. This religion is based on living in happiness, freedom and peace. In the presentation, they showed us a youtube clip of what Caribana is like in Toronto and it actually made me want to go and check it out! Other religions that the African people practice are Christianity and Islam. These people feel very strongly about church and their religion. They also feel strongly about family bonding and connecting with one another.

I could use this information in my future career as a child counselor because I have learned a little more about who these people are. I learned that they really like to express themselves when it comes to music, art and dance. By becoming familiar with the kind of music and art that these people use, I could try to relate with these children by using activities to help them express themselves. This presentation gave me a background understanding of African Canadians but I believe that I would definitely do more further research for a better understanding if I was to work with a African client.
I found the presentation on Biracial Canadians to be very informative when it comes to their feelings and how to work with them. I really enjoyed the part where it explained how to work with these children and what kind of activities I could use because these could definitely be useful if I was to work with a biracial client in the future. I thought that learning about the important things to remember when working with these kinds of clients was very important. A couple of statements that I found to be useful would be to work with the parents of these children, having background knowledge of these children and being aware of their feelings.
Overall, I think that the presentations that we watched last week were very useful!

Learning About Asia and India

So last week in our Cultures and Diversity class, we learnt a lot about different cultures from such locations as India, Bangladesh and Asia.We were told some statistics and some signs of respect in certain countries.
We learned that in Asia, they celebrate traditions such as Ramadan, Christmas and the Chinese New Year. The people of China and South East Asia prefer that everyone were close and that they get along instead of being confrontational with one another. They have a very high value of education. They always hold a central goal that they feel the need to achieve in their life such as getting a diploma or getting married. They usually disapprove of their children if they were to take on a Canadian tradition and they prefer that they take on their own. When a member of the family adapts to a new culture then they become alienated by the rest of their family because it is not accepted. These people also speak 292 languages and the main one is standard mandarin. They do not like when you point your fingers at them. They also feel the need to have more space between one another when it comes to feeling more comfortable socializing. They usually smile when they are embarrassed or put into an awkward situation.

When it comes to India and Bangladesh, I learned that there are six different kinds of religions. They are Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Muslim, Islam and Buddhism. They have many celebrations that revolve around their religious beliefs. One example is Diwali which is the festival of lights. It is from October 15 - November 15. They usually bring food over to their friends houses and everything is done in bright colours. Most traditions and celebrations that involve men include courage, masculinity, races and animal fights.
Women are not as independent as men. The men are usually responsible for financial security and the women share the household chores. The younger generation learns to live a disciplined life. Also, when it comes to hand shaking, the women usually shake hands with the women and the men shake hands with the men. It is not acceptable for a man and a woman to shake hands. It is also important that when someone is departing from a party or a get together, that they say goodbye to everyone individually.
The parents usually have the only say as to who the child is going to marry. It is usually a month long process to see how compatible the couple are when it comes to financial stability, education and how they are socially.
For work and education, Bangladesh is a very poor country so there are many poor children. Farming is the main occupation because it is the most fertile place in the world! Many cyclones and floods have made deaths a major issue in this country and the natural disasters make work hard to find.
I found these two presentations very interesting in class and I have learned a lot from looking at the hand outs as well as watching the youtube slides.
I feel as though I could definitely use this information in my future career when working with these different cultures. I now am more familiar with the different religions and celebrations that these children may be involved in. I have a better understanding of certain gestures to use and not to use when it comes to Asians, Greeks and the people of India. I have learned that these children may come from a poor country and may need a lot of support and resources when arriving in Canada.
When it comes to religion, I have learned that there are different beliefs and ways of life for each one when it comes to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Muslim and Islam. It is important when working with these children to understand the difference of each religion. It would be a major mistake to offend them and not have the information right when speaking about their culture and religion. By learning about the different religions, it gave me more of an idea of how they work. I would definitely do further research if needed when working with a child that has different views than others.
It is very important to realise that the people of Greece are very family oriented and that they usually have very strict rules when it comes to their children. By knowing their values and how to respect them just by communicating, it helps me to better understand how to work with these children and their families.
Of course, I do not know everything about these cultures, but I do have an idea of how they may work. If I was to work with a child from a different country or religion, I would most likely find myself researching it for a better understanding of the client.