Where I Come From, Essay Example

I believe that it is important to understand where I come from because the culture I was brought up in is very different than the culture here. I was born and raised in West Africa in Sierra Leone as a member of a large family with three sisters and one brother. Since I only came to the United States a few years ago, my native culture is a big part of who I am and has an influence on the decisions that I make now. One of these differences is that where I come from, women are not allowed to have a higher education and are expected to be married at fifteen years old.

Where I come from, life for a woman is very different than life for a man. At meal times, we are not allowed to talk or we will be expected to leave the meal. Although certain aspects of my home seem negative compared to the way people live here, there are many nice things about it. For example, we didn’t have to worry about serious crimes like kidnapping and rape because the punishment for these acts were very drastic. In addition, the community was very friendly and mothers would look out for other people’s children without questioning it. Children belonged to the community as a whole, not just the parents. In addition, we needed to grow our own crops because this was an important way to get food.

However, the major difference between where I’m from and here is that women have the ability to do what they want here, and that was not an option back home. Women were required to do whatever their husband wanted them to and it was expected that no questions would be asked. Since women expect to be abused back home, it seemed as if they liked it because if their husband were to beat them it was considered to be a sin of love. In fact, if the husband does not beat the wife, the wife will usually divorce the husband and find one that is willing to. Another important part of the wife/husband relationship was making sure that the wife is a virgin at the time of marriage; in some cultures, it is required that both parents witness sex after marriage in order to check that the bride is really a virgin.

I believe that it is important to understand this culture because it is different from some of the ones that are observed in the United States. If nurses understand more about this culture, then they will be able to treat patients who come from this culture or similar cultures in a better way.