I really enjoyed the sessions of the Inquiry Conference that I went to. I went to one about medical treatments, and I was really impressed by how much the guys learned on their field studies. Some of the injuries that the people came into the clinics with were terrible, and I just kept thinking how different their injuries would have been if they would have had the kind of treatment we have here. But the more that I listened, the more that I realized they have their own ways of doing things and their culture has some influence on their ideas and perceptions of medicine. For example, one guy was saying how in Ghana some people don't like to take oral medications, so they crush up the antibiotics and put them on their body directly. I was just thinking how a lot of people here wouldn't understand that, and might say that's an ignorant thing to do; but what I realized was that they have their own ideas of what is best and that's their tradition.
As far as how I can apply this to my trip to Tonga, I think that it's just always good to have reminders of the importance of learning from the other cultures. It's a lot more important to learn from other people than to say what you think could be done better or what you think is wrong with their culture. The guys at the presentation talked about how they learned from the places they went even though the things were just simple. Once again, that's my goal for my time in Tonga-- to learn as much from the people as I can, even if it's just the simple things.
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