We recently spent 10 days working with a group of volunteers, mostly students from the North Carolina State University who organized two programs to benefit the local people. The first of these programs was a Diabetes Awareness Day. Shown above are Julie Mikus, Emily Soli (a woman who just happened to volunteer at this same time), Avani Javer, Anushri Deshai, Roshen Edathil, Jessie Kruse, and Brandon Dixon with Dr. Enrique and the early-morning line-up of patients who were interested in participating in this program.
Diabetes is a huge problem here in the jungle. This is a result of diet (heavy on sweet coffee and soft drinks and low on nutrition) in combination with the hot humid climate. Since there are no programs for the jungle poor who have this disease, many, often women, lose feet, then legs, then their lives at a relatively young age.
The volunteers had brought information for the patients, which they passed out while they prepared to do individual testing.
Anushri and Emily kept records of the patients …
Jessie began by taking blood pressure and pulse
Anushri was in charge of height and weight …
Avani took the temperature for each patient …
Brandon prepares to help with the patient intake, also at the temperature-taking station …
and the two nurses of the group, Roshen and Julie, were doing the glucose testing on each patient to determine if they have high blood sugar content, an indicator of diabetes.
The Diabetes Journey was a huge success. Many diabetes patients were identified, and all were given information about how to manage their condition.
Here at Project Ix-canaan, we are continuing with a program for diabetics … to identify those who are having problems, and to counsel on how to manage the disease. We are in great need of ongoing donations of testing strips to check for blood sugar levels.
