Good vs Evil NGOs

After being in Bolivia for the last week, I have learned so much about good vs evil NGOs. AYUDA had organized 2 camps, one in Tarija and the other in Santa Cruz. However, due to an evil NGO, we lost quite a few kids from the Tarija camp. Apparently, and granted I only know this through what I have been told by the local doctors, one of the most prominent diabetes NGOs in this country, name withheld on purpose, is corrupt. They sell their medical device and pharma donations to the locals, and they threatened to withdraw supplies from some families if they attended our camp. So, due to the lower attendance of 20 individuals, we did not send the entire volunteer team out to work the Tarija camp. Instead, the rest of us worked on community outreach. Both efforts though have really changed lives.

From the Tarija camp group, I learned about 17yr old Virgina who was just diagnosed with Diabetes on December 1st. She no longer thought she had a future. She figured that she would work out in the field and die soon after because of her condition. She didn't want to come to camp either, but Patricia, one of the local doctors and director of Fundacion Vida Plena, convinced her otherwise. At camp, Virginia constantly asked questions about diabetes and just thrived to learn more. At the end, she told everyone that she feels like camp changed her life. She is now well-informed and ready to live life again. She touched so many hearts and made everyone feel like we have made a difference in such a short time.

Today on our home visits, one group met Aya, a 10 yr old girl who has not taken any insulin since she was diagnosed 2 years ago. It's a miracle she is still alive, but I've been told that there is a honeymoon period associated with Type I diabetes when the pancreas still produces some insulin. During the home visit, the volunteers checked her blood sugar and found it at 588, extremely high. After an hour of talking with the mom and Aya regarding the importance of insulin to survive, the family gave in to learning more. Anna, Danielle and Marco taught her how to check her blood sugar with a glucometer they gave her, how to measure insulin, and how to inject herself. Surprisingly, she did it all by herself and corrected her blood sugar level with an injection. We plan to continue the education at camp and look to Nino Feliz for on-going support of supplies.

Finally, I learned about Katrina a 17 yr old malnourished girl. Another group went to visit her and learned that she is unable to eat. Whenever she does, she throws up because her body rejects the food. As a result, she never takes rapid insulin that is used to correct for food. She only uses the baseline insulin. Additionally, she does not have much family support and seems to have been abandoned by different family members. She didn't really want to come to camp, and I think we have convinced her to so that we can continue to support her.

Although some of these family situations seem really difficult to encounter, we were reminded to always stay peppy and keep our spirits up at camp. The campers do not want our pity and would like to be treated just like normal kids because they are kids first. Camp starts Thursday and I can not be more excited to reunite with the kids I have met already as well as to meet the ones I have not yet. We are expecting a high turnout of about 60 kids.