Our Mission
RESOURCES: To assist people with type 1 diabetes currently residing in resource poor settings to obtain the insulin and glucose testing supplies necessary to obtain tight control of their diabetes.
EDUCATION: To promote education toward preventing health complications associated with poorly-controlled type 1 diabetes.
RESEARCH: To support research aimed at the prevention and cure of type 1 diabetes.
Marjorie’s Story
Marjorie had been provided enough insulin and glucose testing supplies to allow her to survive. Yet, Uganda is starved for resources that would have allowed Marjorie to keep her blood sugar levels under good enough control to avoid diabetic complications.
While she awaited a kidney transplant – a treatment she never received – Marjorie relied on weekly dialysis treatments to stay alive.
Why We Are Needed
Type 1 diabetes can be a killer. This “sweet” disease, first recognized by an excess of sugar in the urine of affected patients, is anything but. It is an auto immune disease that can result in uncontrollable blood sugar levels that may lead to debilitation, organ failure, and death.
Patients survive by being diagnosed early and educated to check their blood sugars with fingersticks, inject themselves with insulin, and to maintain healthy lifestyles. In resource poor settings, however, simple blood tests, basic medications, and ongoing education and medical oversight are severely lacking and type 1 diabetes is frequently a death sentence.
Without better resources, more patients like Marjorie will survive into adulthood, only to suffer and inevitably die from the many complications associated with late diagnosis and poor diabetes control.
Thriving. Not Just Surviving. Learn More
