CAMPO AMIGO 2k8

We just got back from camp earlier today.. it was 6 days of pure craziness. the camp was held in the same place as the precamp, completely removed from civilzation by a dirt road and a big fence! I was in a bunk with 11 14-year-old girls (and 2 other counselors) who were the craziest bunch of kids i have ever experienced, and between trying to get them to listen and follow directions, checking blood sugars at least 8 times a day (including 1 am and 3 am each night), and having full full days of activities, not a whole lot of sleep was involved!! and now that its all over, my mind is still spinning while i try to decide what actually happened, how i feel about it, and in the end what everyone/anyone actually got out of it..

A typical day at camp involved waking up around 7, checking glicemias and giving insulin, and then eating breakfast. we would have an hour and a half each of diabetes education, sports and art each day, all intersperced with more glicemia checks, calculating insulin corrections, eating snacks and lunch and dinner (before all of which we had to check glicemias again and give insulin again while hoping that no campers would get low blood sugar and have a hipoglicemic reaction while we were waiting to talk to the doctor before we could eat) and a lot of free time to reflect, chill out, and if you happened to be one of the girls in my cabin you probably would spend at least an hour a day looking in the mirror, doing your hair and makeup, and probably at least another hour or 2 talking about the boys on the other side of the cabin and all the guy counselors on which you had a crush! plus, if you were a counselor, you were required to do night checks to make sure that no campers got low blood sugars in the middle of the night, which can lead to seizures. while thier were tons of low blood sugars every night, luckily they were all treated before anyone dropped so low they began convulsing... however it did mean that each night one of the 3 of us wouldn't go to bed until 330 or 4am or later, and still have to wake up and function all day long.

The range in campers was unbelievable- from fairly affluent kids to had been to camp 5 or 6 summers in a row and were more or less independent in controlling their diabetes, to kids that come from families with next to nothing, wearing the same clothes day and night for a week, to whom a lot of the information we were teaching was brand new, and sometimes unapplicable due to their economic situation. all of the girls in my bunk except for 1 had been to camp before and had a pretty strong basis of knowledge about their diabetes- however, that doesn't mean that thier diabetes is under control.. for example, one girl in my bunk said that her family´s income is 100$ a month. both her and her older brother have type 1 diabetes. in ecuador, one little bottle of insulin costs $40. do the math. there is absolutely no way that either of them can effectively control their diabetes strictly based on the fact that they can't afford to, and unfortunately it shows in their A1C´s (both are above the healthy range, meaning that they will inevitably suffer complications, even within the next 10 years)

My campers, even though they were young, were especially touched by these stories and very motivated to help those who dont have the resources to treat their diabetes effectively. this is essentially what the FDJE does, but my campers spent a good deal of time talking amongst themselves about what they could do to change the situation in ecuador, even one person at a time. it was super motivating to see them plegde to donate the extra glucose machines in their house, and x number of strips each month in order to ensure that those in need dont have to suffer complications from thier diabetes. like we teach in camp, diabetes is not a sickness, its a way of life that can be effectively controlled so long as one is given the opportunity. the girls made announcements throughout the camp inviting anyone who was interested to help them, and hopefully in the next few weeks we will be working with them so that they can begin to organize themselves, sort out thier ideas, and come up with a sustainable way to help those in need.

In and of itself, the camp was nothing like anything that would ever exist in the US. one of the volunteers that we were working with said that in the US if a child doesnt take insulin for an entire day, it is likely that child protective services would be called. here we are dealing with some children who maybe take insulin twice a month. we teach the campers that they can eat real sugar and carbohydrates, but it is a slippery slope - they can only eat these sugars if they can afford insulin. otherwise they have to stick to eating foods that dont raise the blood sugar and testing their glucose (like i mentioned before) by trying to note the stickyness of their urine... really difficult and often ineffective. plus, like most things in latin america, things were very disorganized and lots left until the last minute. even day to day counselors didnt always know what was going on and the lack of communication was unbelievable. although there are a million things i would do to change the camp, every single one of the campers learned something new and the psychosocial effects of bonding with a peer group that also has type 1 diabetes are undenyable.

As for me, while i may be a little frustrated with the organization, i definetly want to keep working with them to help in any way that i can. i have been talking with some of the other counselors about planning youth activities within the foundation here in quito, and also about traveling to some of the provinces and recruiting new families to the foundation. i am espeically interested in doing outreach work and this is definetly a motivating factor in what i do with the next 10 weeks.

While the AYUDA program is rapidly ending, you would think i would have a plan for what I am going to do next.... but I still havent decided. i have been in touch with Un Techo Para Mi Pais (the habitat for humanity organization here) about doing some volunteer work and I will obvously spend some time working with AYUDA. i want to travel around ecuador, but for now i am taking it a day at a time... when i know more, i will be sure to keep you posted!

take care.
ap