In just the past few days, I feel as though I have gained so much life experience and so much insight into the way in which others live and perceive the world. Through the monk chat to the Hmong village, we have already observed the lives of others immensely that we can apply to the Human Ecological Model.  The Human Ecological Model consist of four lenses: the sociocultural, the family, the human built environment, and the natural built environment. The experience that I have chosen to apply to this model is the visit to the Hmong village.  In the Hmong village it was facinating to observe how the homes were built into the mountains and structured around the natural enviorment and the way in which they adapted to the nature that surrounded them. The crop designs and green house were built around stairs that were structured specifically to avoid erosion. This displays the human built environment, how the people built their lives around the nature. It was such a profound experience to observe how the village acted as a collective family with smaller units within it. The village survived and thrived based on the connections they had with one another. Every individual portrayed strong family values, they took pride in their village and the simplicity it was made up of. I felt that when they spoke about their village and then way they live it was almost as if they were privileged to have this village, to have the opportunity to live simply, without materialism, without chaos. To have this extremely rare and unique opportunity all to themselves. There was an interdependence within the family, the sociocultural, and the human built environment lenses. How they only went to the city when they didn’t have a choice, for necessities such as education and essential economic resources. Even when the young adults went off to college, they were eager to return once they were finished their four years Eager to return to the solitude, the nature, and the simplicity and peace that they found only in their village.  Continue reading Blog #2 →