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The way of AfDA: Disarming Diabetes Daily

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Thursday, 20th June, 2019

Written by Mukantwari Edith Prudence

A big and beautiful official welcome to our blog. We are so glad you are here. I hope that you have heard of Africa Diabetes Alliance (AfDA) before. However, in case you haven't, I hope that this serves as an introductory post to understanding our why and joining our patient empowerment efforts, and passion for developing and sharing resources to support the existing health structures in striving to improve the narrative of diabetes care for the better both within our country Uganda, and Africa at large. We believe that knowledge is potential power to help us make better health decisions, but true power lies in transforming that knowledge into action to make positive change happen. We hope that this can be a supportive, resourceful platform for us all as we take on our journeys of disarming diabetes together.

AfDA: Unity in action against diabetes for a brighter future

Whatever kind of diabetes we, or a friend or family member are faced with, we know that it triggers many different, but complex feelings for patients and their loved ones. This is even more frustrating and confusing when it is a young child that is faced with such a diagnosis for life since it is a chronic illness. So what is diabetes? For those of us wondering, diabetes is a state of hyperglycemia or high blood sugar, brought on when our beta cells that produce the hormone insulin in the pancreas, cannot produce adequate amounts or when body cells cannot use what is produced efficiently.


Photo by James Pond on Unsplash

At the time of diagnosis with diabetes, most of us know nothing about it. We may have heard the word diabetes have no idea what we are dealing with since we know absolutely nothing about it. On the other hand, diabetes is like a super soldier, armed to the teeth, who knows everything about our bodies, is tuned in to our specific frequency, has all the intelligence, weapons and technology to take us down like the big, scary and intimidating enemies that faced Keanu Reeves in the Matrix 3 or Jet Li in his many many movies (I know Jet Li fans know how he fights some very overwhelming odds, usually successfully, though he takes some beatings along the journey of learning). From these movies, we learn over and over again that it is not possible to destroy an adversary that we don't know or understand really well.  Same thing applies to diabetes, that we see as this big, powerful and intimidating adversary that we cannot beat, till it feels like we are getting crushed under its gigantic foot over and over again. However, that is only because majority of us do not understand it, which is why most of us keep taking so many hits from it with no hope of avoiding them.

What would you say if I told you that you can understand diabetes so well that you can prevent, predict and avoid all its hits. At the very least, reduce them significantly as we build our arsenal to fight back and win more often than not. Wouldn't you run as quickly as possible to get some of this advantage? I know I would, in fact, I did, after years. That is what changed my experience and gave me my power back so I win against diabetes so much more often. I learned the best ways to fight back using the tools I have like my syringes, insulin, food, exercise, log book, blood glucose meter, many diabetes books, my diabetes buddies that I went from making countless mistakes and started getting victories. I learned to appreciate good blood sugars, learn from the less desirable numbers and in the process, the tide turned and showed me that I can win this fight more often than not. I now have the knowledge, power and the support and I am always looking for more of this good stuff to support many more consistently good blood sugar numbers.


Photo by Johann Walter Bantz on Unsplash


We are bringing these services closer to our people and increasing access to them. We are building a community of warriors supporting one another in this struggle and we know that against diabetes, there is power in numbers. So come along and join us, as we fight back and Disarm Diabetes Daily together for better health for us, and for many others.


Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash



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