Alissa lives in Mt. Shasta, California , and is currently a senior in high school with type 1 diabetes.
She served as a new volunteer at Campo Amigo Ecuador '07. She describes how she was impacted by her campers:
My week at Campo Amigo Ecuador was challenging,
but also incredibly rewarding. I had come down to Ecuador prepared
to witness the economic disparities facing people with diabetes-an
incredibly costly condition (if you have any doubts, just ask my insurance),
and lack of vital education. Yet no mental preparation could have
prepared me for seeing it in reality. I had three campers who really
did not have even the simplest knowledge of how things like diet,
exercise, and stress affect their blood sugar, and also the opportunities
to share stories with the other campers about their lives with diabetes
made it a crucial activity of the day. Diabetes education was a great
learning experience and the opportunities it awarded to share stories
with the other campers about their lives with diabetes made it a crucial
activity of the day.
The final night of camp over our campfire, many campers spoke up
about what a great week it had been for them, how great it was to
feel so united together, and how even though it was such a mix of
people from all over, we all have the same mission: improving the
lives of people with type 1 diabetes. My co-counselor Rodrigo, much
loved and respected by everyone for his good-nature and playful
humor, spoke up that this group of youth (for we were all youth-counselors
and campers alike) is responsible for changing diabetes in Ecuador
in the years to come, and how we were to all help each other out.
It was very inspiring.
