Lilly supports development of diabetes youth

John Smith - endocrine manager of Partnerships & Key Accounts at Lilly South Africa with Youth With Diabetes Youth Leaders Jonathan Muba; Kerry Kalweit (youth chairperson); Grant Julie; Chris Samuels; Gareth Murray and Jayson Pillay.

This camp, the fourth consecutive Diabetes Youth Leader training camp to take place in Gauteng since the concept was first initiated in 2006, took place between 29 September and 3 October 2010, at Magalies Retreat in Magaliesburg, with 44 children attending, all between the ages of 14 and 19. These camps are run by the NGO Youth With Diabetes (YWD).

Originally the brainchild of endocrinologist Dr David Segal and diabetes nurse educator Sister Hester Davel of the Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology (CDE) in Houghton, Johannesburg, these camps see teens and young adults who have well-controlled diabetes, are accepting of their diabetes and have good leadership skills being invited from around the country and beyond its borders to participate in this rigorous five-day educational course.

"This year the focus of the leadership training was not only to empower these young leaders to walk their talk when it comes to living with diabetes, but also for them to implement projects in their communities through which others will be empowered," says Sister Hester Davel, the facilitator of these camps.

The camp this year focussed on three main objectives:
• To create opportunities for the leaders to learn more about themselves and discover their natural leadership talents;
• Io allow them to practice their team leadership skills in a relaxed and fun environment;
• To facilitate the process whereby they can learn how to plan a project and lead a project team in the execution of the plan within their communities over the coming year.

"Because we are an NGO, we mostly depend on our sponsors for funding all these initiatives. We want to thank them all for their support throughout the years and their role in the success we have experienced in all our projects," says Davel. "We'd especially like to thank Lilly and John Smith, endocrine manager of Partnerships & Key Accounts, for continuously supporting our Diabetes Youth Camps and Diabetes Leadership Camps every year. We want more pharmaceutical companies to get on board and see the merit and benefits of providing in the long term for the diabetes community."

On the final day of camp, all of the youth leaders presented their project plans to Charl Oosthuizen, YWD chairman, and camp founder, endocrinologist Dr Dave Segal. They have one year in which to implement their projects and are required to report on their progress throughout the year. All leaders will return to camp in 2011 and a winner will be chosen, based on whose project was the most successful.