Negi’s childhood home in Macun was in a community which had few ties with the rest of society. She was an intelligent child who grew up poor, with six siblings, a virtually absent father, and little knowledge of how the world worked. Yet she was driven to shape an identity separate from her family, and in her heart still remain the “jibara” she was raised as.

Negi was a stable child with no significant drawbacks in her childhood that would inhibit healthy growth or development. She seemed healthy and happy. It is hard to consider Negi’s childhood as “normal” reading about it from an American viewpoint. Reason being she grew up in a country and a culture dramatically different from most people’s in America. Even though her houses were described as one or two room shacks, her bed shared by 5 or 6 siblings, she walked around barefoot outdoors, never visited the doctor, and ate rice and beans almost everyday; in her culture and in her community that is normal. People that have that experience growing up in America would be labeled “poor” or “underprivileged”. One must be culturally sensitive

Some topics in this essay:
Zastrow Kirst-Ashman, Puerto Rico, Jenny Angie, Roth Brooks-Gunn, Santiago Negi’s, Whenever Negi, Rican Negi, Negi Negi, Rico Negi, Negi Papi, zastrow kirst-ashman, zastrow kirst-ashman 2004, kirst-ashman 2004, puerto rico, home school, harrison 1990, family negi, american influence, extended family, throughout book, sense self, kirst-ashman 2004 explains, negi stable child, according zastrow kirst-ashman, ethnic minority children,