Diabetic organising Hogsback camp for youth living with condition

Familiar with the challenges of living with diabetes from a young age, a former Cillié High School pupil is organising a three-day camp for diabetic youth and their parents.

The aim of the camp, Ernest Groenewald, 26, said is for the youngsters to meet and engage in fun and educational activities and hopefully form lifelong friendships.

Camp Diabeteable will be held at Hobbiton in Hogsback from August 6 to August 8.

Diagnosed at the age of six, Groenewald has been living with Type 1 diabetes for 20 years.

The journey can be especially lonely for young children who have little understanding of the disease, he said.

“It’s a life-changing disease and when you’re diagnosed at a young age, you have so much to deal with.

“From your family having to pin you down so you can take your insulin injection to having other children not want to play with you because you have a disease, it can be a tough journey,” Groenewald said.

When he was younger, he said he used to wish he knew other diabetic children he could relate to.

He is hosting the camp to give diabetic youngsters what he had wished for.

Parents of children living with diabetes are welcome to attend the camp with their children, to learn more about managing the disease and supporting their children.

The camp is open to children aged between six and 16.

Groenewald said the children would take part in fun and educational activities, attend workshops and be allowed to talk about their challenges with the disease.

“It’s meant to be a fun camp where children living with diabetes are surrounded by people like them.

“I know how much it sucks to be different from other children and, for once, these children will be in a space where they don’t have to feel different.

“The parents will be separated from the children during most activities because I want the children to freely open up about their feelings,” he said.

He said the camp would become an annual or biannual event.

“I am passionate about children living with diabetes and I want them to know that living with diabetes does not mean that they can’t live their lives fully.

“They can live long, fulfilling lives if they just take good care of themselves,” he said.

Groenewald has partnered with the Gqeberha branch of Diabetes SA to host the camp.

Camp co-ordinator from the organisation, Paula Thom, said the Gqeberha branch was  appealing to the public for donations to take diabetic children to the camp. 

HeraldLIVE