Along with increasing material certainty and security gained from socioeconomic developments after entering the 21st century, the Akha, an ethnic transnational group spread throughout Yunnan and Southeast Asian countries, still face certain health-threatening insecurities which could not be solved by the state, i.e., the cosmological insecurities. Among its plural medical environments, the Akha heavily depend on techniques of ritual care to cope with these perceived cosmological insecurities, particularly when it concerns children’s health.
The Akha children are normally viewed as half human and half spirit until thirteen-year-old. The essence of children highly defines their childcare techniques, which maintain frequent interactions with the cosmological world. The cosmological powers protect children from danger as well as cause their illnesses, which can only be cured through healing rituals. Thus, the cosmology is a resource of both insecurities and support to the Akha.
The Akha villagers mainly rely on kinship system and big man system to perform healing rituals for children. These two systems interweave the Akha community into a collective support network, being obliged to be helpful. Because of the participation of cosmological powers as the Akha claim, the social support network actually develops into a socio-cosmic support network.