Camp Pride kicks off

The annual summer camp for children in Barbados living with Type 1 diabetes – Camp Pride kicked off yesterday at the Springer Memorial Secondary School.

Speaking to The Barbados Advocate ahead of the Camp recently, after the church service to mark the start of their annual Camp Pride week at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church, the President of the Diabetes Association of Barbados (DAB), Trudy Griffith, said that the Camp is geared towards explaining the condition that they have to them and educating them on the steps that they can take to protect themselves – from a dietary, exercise and medication point of view.

“Camp Pride is in its 15th year this year and it is really geared towards children who have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and you want them to appreciate as they grow up, how to take care of themselves because one of the concerns when the child has been diagnosed with diabetes is... Yes, the parents are going to do what they have to do but when that child is at school, that child is now essentially on their own, only with support from parents remotely and from teachers on site. So the child needs to be a bit more involved then and they have to be aware of what is going on with their bodies so that they can articulate to their teachers, their classmates and their friends ‘this is what is going on with me and this is where I need help’”.

Here these youngsters will learn about meal planning, where the children actually get involved in preparing their own meals in accordance with what their dieticians have recommended and conversational maps, which is an interactive tool where the participants learn about what diabetes is, how it is managed, what happens if things go wrong, what treatments are available in terms of managing diabetes among other things.

Catering to children from four to 14 years old, it is a one week whole day camp that culminates with a cook off on Saturday where the children showcase what they have learnt.

This year they will be catering to 20 children.