Module # 3 Weblog # 2

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2009/09/16/mb-ottawa-body-bags-manitoba.html

Ottawa sends body bags to Manitoba reserves

This is a perfect example of not understanding and respecting other cultures. This whole incident could have been avoided with a minute amount of research and understanding of the cultures involved. At the beginning of the H1N1 scare the Canadian government made an improper and disrespectful mistake by sending body bags to First Nations reserves in northern Manitoba. The reason that I chose this article is that is shows what happens when one doesn’t conduct themselves in a manor appropriate to the culture that they are working with. It is considered to be inviting death to the community, which I assume is not necessarily the message that the government wanted to convey.

By not taking cultural beliefs in to account the government had a self created controversy. The communities were looking for help to fight this virus. These communities are among the hardest hit by this new ‘super flu’. They were looking for medication, not what the government sent to them. This is a prime example of why one needs to respect other cultures beliefs and act accordingly when working with them.