There’s a summer camp where all of the campers have one thing in common – they all have type one diabetes.
D-Camps are run by the Canadian Diabetes Association, and have been going on for almost 50 years.
Camp Director Rheal Williams says they have camps right across Atlantic Canada.
“Here in Atlantic Canada we have five different camps, so each one of our provinces gets one week and Nova Scotia gets two, where we split the age, we have a 13-14 age camp, and a 7 to 14 age camp,” says Williams.
Williams says normally when you think of summer camp you don’t think of daily blood glucose monitoring and a proper diet but for the kids who attend D-Camps it’s an every day ritual.
“Our campers here are all type one diabetes, it’s a chronic illness that affects the pancreas and production of insulin,” says Williams. “And so all of our campers here are insulin dependent.”
Williams says other than that, the campers enjoy all the regular activities of camp like swimming and sports.
He says it is nice that all the campers can relate to one another.
“There’s a lot of discussion actually within cabin groups about diabetes and their personal experiences,” says Williams. “And camp is a great place to improve upon their independence with their own diabetes management.”
There are camps in every province in Atlantic Canada including one in Greenhill Lake, New Brunswick.
