North Pole ...continued...

To get these posts out every night is quite an ordeal. The cold saps battery power so quickly you can watch the meter tick away. Every piece of electronics needs to be warmed against the body to restore power, then used quickly. We generally collaborate on our posts then, just before dinner, we will hook up all the various devices and start the long process of uploading our posts. I have to admit it is a pain, but something we both look forward to every night in our tent. I believe Mike is going to write about the noise we heard last night so I won't go into great detail, but I will tel ...continued...

In order to ward off boredom on a solo trip from Kansas City to Denver, I jotted sights that caught my eye on the steering wheel. At my destination, I turned my scribbles into a poem. I don't recommend writing on the steering wheel--but in Kansas there's not much else going on. KANSAS CITY TO DENVER RUN My Grand AM and I off on early grey dawn journey to a writers conference through short rolling velvet fields shrouded in puffs of fog on I-70. Topeka gas station, fill Betsy's tan ...continued...

I found two great resources that were very informative and related to cultural awareness as well as health professions. Shaya, Fadia T., and Confidence M. Gbarayor. "The Case for Cultural Competence in Health Professions Education." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 15 Dec. 2006. Web. 03 Apr. 2017. This first resource explains how it is necessary for cultural competence to be taught in health professional curriculums. This resource stated how it is necessary to look at the true health issues among dif ...continued...

~~A BOOKWORM AT GIRL SCOUT CAMP In the 1950’s my family moved from a little Missouri town to the small town in Indiana where my father grew up. We lived with our grandparents for a few months while my father started a new job and we found a house to rent. My little brother and sister, ages six and five respectively, roamed my grandparents’ big back yard and the neighborhood, but I asked if I might read the old books I saw in the parlor bookcases. My grandmother, usually so strict about us not touching her possessions, gave me permission. I read from books that far exceeded my s ...continued...

I have a new devotional book out called Looking Deeper: A 366 Day Devotional. It's available in paperback and e-reader for your tablet or phone. Go to Amazon.com at this address: http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Deeper-366-Day-Devotional/dp/1500415731/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406742308&sr=8-2&keywords=god%27s+little+Miracle+book+III Here is a sample of what you'll find inside. January 4 Psalm 91:11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. In my book, God’s Little Miracle Book III, I share a story of a woman ...continued...

Although I never thought of myself to be 'prejudiced' or 'biased', I do understand that my beliefs would great impact my work as a healthcare professional. When I had taken the Cultural Competence Self Assessment Survery, I quickly came to a scary realization that I did know as much as I thought I did. For example, there was a question regarding non-verbal communication (pointing fingers, thumbs up, etc) that I had thought was universal. In fact, I was wrong, as I did not realize there are many different ways facial expressions and gestures could be interpreted as. Not surprisi ...continued...

Well you guys already know who i am but anyways, i'm gonna talk about me for awhile. This last summer before school, I had surgery on my chest because I was born with a dent in my chest. The doctors kept on telling me that there was nothing wrong with me but my mom and I kept going to the doctors. We finally told them that we would like to see a specialist. So we did see one and he said that my dent is severe. Severe would mean My chest was pushing my heart and lungs to eachother and thats why my chest was always hurting. He also said I should do the surgery, at first i d ...continued...

I found this week's module very interesting. I am personally apart of both the disabled and LGBTQA community. I have always experienced the client's perspective and not the providers perspective so it was eye-opening to me. I think it is important to put people before their disability, especially since everywhere else you go, it seems you are defined by your disability. Cultural competence is being, not "tolerant", but understanding and sympathisizng for every cultural difference. Being tolerant sounds too negative. Since I work in IT, I need to work with all different people ...continued...

Living in El Monte, California, She had been in an abusive relationship off and on for several years. One day this man she was dating, decided he was gonna take a trip to go visit his parents in another town. As she waited for him pregnant and patiently, and in communication, realizing 1 week pased, then 2 weeks came around finally wondering why a month has already gone bye, and he wasnt home yet. As time passes she has found that while visiting his parents he was really visiting his fiance' and with in that time he got married to his fiance' and made her his wife. Finally 8 months kater s ...continued...

Before starting this course, I thought that I was a pretty culturally competent or at least accepting individual. I come from a very small town where there is not much cultural diversity of any kind, but since coming to UWM, I felt that I had thrived on the diversity on campus and in the city and that I had become culturally competent. I could not have been more wrong. Certainly, living in the city of Milwaukee and experiencing diversity that I had not before exposed me to different cultures and many different types of people, but I still carried many stereotypes and prejudic ...continued...

Recently I spent the day with one of my granddaughters. She’ll be a senior in high school next year. We spoke of many things, but one stands out in my memory. She told me of accompanying a friend to a Planned Parenthood facility. Her friend’s mother instructed her to go there to get a pregnancy test. I’ll let you hear the conversation we had. “Mandy’s * mother was out of town so Mandy asked me to go with her.” “Why didn’t she get a pregnancy test at the drugstore?” My granddaughter shrugged. “Her mom wanted her to make sure t ...continued...

Orcs hate Elves with a passion. (from Lord of the Rings by J. R.R. Tolkien) “Home home on the range, where the deer and the antelope play” According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Wildlife Services, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has killed, through gassing, poisoning and strangulation by snare, 27 million native animals since 1996, including more than 1 million in 2014. The animals have included prairie dogs, gray wolves, mountain lions, black bears, foxes, coyotes and even bald eagles, and possibly a few domestic cats. ...continued...

I think what I find quite amazing is that I can remember as far back as being no older than 2 to 3 years old. Some memories were good and some not so much. I was actually a pretty happy child, never really got into much trouble, unlike my older brother and my little sister. I can remember that the one word we did not say, was the word" shut up" to one another, if you did well you can pretty twell imagine what would happen. I had to find out the hard way one morning, let's just say yuck! I told my brother to shut up because he had said something to me that made me mad, unfor ...continued...

I believe the answer to this question is “people” – human beings. People can often be at their funniest when they’re not trying to be funny at all. Most people believe they are unique. There’s some truth in that thought but others go much further and believe that they are the only sane person on the planet. “All the world is queer save thee and me, and even thou art a little queer.” Robert Owen (Welsh philosopher and philanthropist 1771-1858) Some people think that the world revolves around only them. The British nation used to feel like that. Back then, in days gone by, th ...continued...