Rachel Agasha Nankya
My Story
I spent the first 12 years of my life a happy and healthy student in a boarding school, a popular and cost effective mode of education in Uganda and Africa. When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, everything changed. I was immediately removed from the boarding school which was unwilling to accommodate my health needs. I spent the next 6 years of my life in a precarious state, sharing my condition with no one, hiding in bathrooms to take my insulin, and even being exposed to a herbalist that replaced my insulin with herbs giving. This led to a near death experience at 13. My single mom made a decision at that moment to dedicate all her resources to empower and educate me to better understand my condition. My single most important achievement to date was accepting my diagnosis because it gave me the courage to speak out, share her story, raise awareness and change the way people see diabetes.
My Advocacy
There is a long way to go to make a dent into the diabetes awareness agenda, but my voice will sustain. I only need the tools and the power of my team and diabetes community, which I have gained from the Pamoja advocacy program. Now I am contributing to making measurable change in perception and acceptance of type 1 diabetes in Africa.
People in my country really need to appreciate that type 1 diabetes exists. To some people it is actually a condition for the rich, so if someone from a humble background is showing signs and symptoms, it's the last thing they would consider. Worse, they might call it witchcraft. People need to understand that even as a diabetic one is allowed to dream big and become literally anything they would want to be. I want to restore hope to any diabetic out there who thinks being diabetic is a curse. I want to change this perception and show them it can actually be a blessing in disguise, like it has been for me.
My team has faced challenges, but together we achieved our advocacy goal for 2018: to improve understanding of type 1 diabetes and reduce stigma. Together we delivered 4 type 1 diabetes presentations in clinics in Gulu and Kampala. Many people with type 1 diabetes that we spoke to told us that they keep their diabetes a secret at school and in their communities. We feel this has contributed to the problem of lack of awareness in our country. Therefore, as part of our presentation, we emphasized the need for type 1 warriors starting conversations about diabetes in their schools and communities.
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