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The Difference Between Eritrea And The United States

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I’ve lived in places where healthcare was inaccessible, where doctors were not fully equipped with the tools necessary to preform regular checkups, and where people died chilling deaths from misdiagnoses or lack there of. I was born in Khartoum, Northern Sudan as my parents were in transit to come to the land of the free from Eritrea. In the midst of its 30-year war with Ethiopia, both of my parents fled the compromised country at the age of 18 and 20. The war had made it difficult for children to attend school, therefore my parents fled with what would be considered a middle school education. After two years and through much treachery, we successfully made it to America.

The major difference between Eritrea and the United States is the …show more content…

The process of receiving and affording healthcare was, at the time, out of reach. Once my family was able to attain healthcare insurance, doctor visits were unpleasant. The physicians struggled to comprehend my parents’ needs, while my parents simultaneously struggled to understand the diagnoses provided by the physicians. These instances led to the frustrations of the physicians because of the communication barrier, which led to their inability to do their job at their full potential. Due to this dilemma, our visits to the doctor were few and far between.

As I grew older, the need for me to attend these visits were increased due to my proficiency in English. Fortunately, there was now a translator between my parents and the physician, however the authenticity of the translation was skeptical. This is a common issue among the children of non-English speaking families who are unable to successfully relay issues regarding health and finances from the healthcare provider themselves. Due to the complexity of the conditions and the emotional burden that it may contain, I often found myself struggling to relay these messages to my family. There were times where I found myself sugarcoating the diagnoses given by the physician because I did not understand the severity and because I did not want it to impact my family. Once I became a teenager, I realized withholding pertinent information was actually doing more harm than good.

When I

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