YOUR BELLA LIFE

Last year, June 2021 started the first cohort of fellows of the Voices of Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries (NCDIs) Poverty Advocacy Fellowship, from the NCDIs Poverty Network . I was given the opportunity to be part of the fellowship together with three other fellows from Uganda, Kenya, and Nepal. The fellowship aims to help influence a call of action around NCDIs in the poorest countries. Fellows work to develop work plans that focus on building a community of people living with NCDIs (PLWNCDIs), and amplifying and leveraging their experiences.  Throughout the fellowship we have been working together on disease-specific issues to co-develop and implement advocacy projects, in collaboration with the larger NCDI Poverty Network. I have been developing a project focusing on creating patient support groups or Solidarity groups of people living with Type 1 Diabetes. The main Goal of the project is To improve the quality of health of young people living with Type 1 Diabetes. Peopl...

Since 2010, it's been 10 years after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was very hard for me, but I was able to manage it. On May 10th, 2010 I was brought to the hospital because I was in a very bad condition. I would have died not only for not being treated earlier but also due to a medical error. Instead of being given insulin to reduce my blood sugar, I was almost given Glucagon which increases blood sugar levels. This would have killed me. One week later, while hospitalised, I was about to be injected 10 times my usual dose. This would have also killed me. Today, I not only celebrate the fact that I am still alive but also the start of a new journey. A journey that is full of obstacles but also a journey to make my voice heard to bring a change. A journey to help people living with Diabetes, to not give up. Diabetes affected me in different ways.  I almost gave up on my life because I would not handle injecting myself every day, losing friends, and all the bad things that...

In February 2020, I attended the Global Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance Forum in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The theme of the forum was to bridge the gaps in NCDs. It was attended by almost 400 delegates from 85 countries all over the world. One of my greatest take away from the forum was about the power of lived experiences in bridging the gap for NCDs. “IM patient for change”. I learned that we people living with NCDs, until we speak, no one will speak for us, or speak the way we want to. This is to mean that we have to make our voices heard because nobody will do it or even if someone does, it will not be exactly the same as if we expressed ourselves. I also learned that the day people with NCDs will stop talking, is when we will die. This is to mean that we have to share our stories and they will bring a change. I also learned that there should be nothing for us without us. This implies that the lived experiences have to be involved in the advocacy. The lived experiences have...

Increased Thirst Image by  Lorelyn Medina  Via  Shutterstock Frequent Urination Image by Blamb ca via Shutterstock Extreme Hunger Image by Macrovector Via Shutterstock Fatigue Image by Meilun Via Shutterstock Blurry Vision                                               Image by Lorelyn Medina Via Shutterstock Unintended Weight Loss Image by Ivana Forgo Via Shutterstock Image by Kakigori Studio Via Shutterstock

In life, people meet different challenges on different things. But we should not let those challenges destroy us or change who we are. We should stand up and prove them wrong! Isn’t it right? Oh Yeah! I’ve been facing some hard times in my journey with diabetes but it did not stop me to become who I am today. A strong lady who is ready to face any issues with little or no difficulties. Shouldn’t we all try and do the same? When I was 12, I was diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus. At that time, I didn’t know what it really was and my doctors could just tell me that I have blood issues and that I would be fixed. After one week and a half that is when I knew that I had Diabetes, what it was and that it is a chronic disease. I couldn’t just believe that I will no longer eat candies and you know how kids like them… my mom was also very sad; I could just see it in her eyes. But then, I couldn’t change anything. When one of our neighbor knew about my sickness, she started gossiping aroun...

Image by Rawpixel .com via Shutterstock Life is not over because you have diabetes. Make the most of what you have, be grateful . Many people say that if a person has diabetes, they are going to die. This is wrong. Yes, it is a very bad disease but if you follow your physician’s advice, you can live as long as a healthy person. Diabetes is a non-communicable disease that makes your body not produce enough insulin or does not use insulin well. A non-communicable disease is a disease that is not transmitted from one person to another. Non-communicable diseases are also called chronic diseases because they are not curable. When a person has diabetes, it cannot be diagnosed with an eye, it needs medical laboratories and it has its own treatment. We are going to know more about what is diabetes, and how it diagnosed and the way it can be treated or the medicine that Diabetic people take. As mentioned above, when a person has diabetes, his or her body, mainly the pancreas is n...