TLC Children’s Home raises awareness about diabetes
The home encourages healthier eating among the children to ensure they grow up to be healthy adults.

Living with type 1 diabetes is not easy, especially for a young child.
At the age of six, Nokuthula Jasmine’s caretakers noticed she was not acting herself and losing weight and hair. When she went to the local clinic, they immediately referred her to the hospital because of her sugar levels.
This is the first diabetic child at TLC Children’s Home.
According to the World Health Organisation, in Africa there has been a significant increase in type 1 diabetes cases among children and teenagers. Across Africa, there are 12.7 million cases of paediatric diabetes. What is scary is that 54% of people living with diabetes in Africa are undiagnosed.

Children with type 1 diabetes must have daily injections of insulin to keep their blood glucose level within normal ranges, which requires constant monitoring, which is often hard for homes where staff is limited.
Pippa Jarvis, the managing director of TLC Children’s Home said: “It is our obligation to teach our children about healthy eating and lifestyles. While we allow our children to have sweets, it is all about balance and moderation.”
Joanna Jones, the programme director, is an expert on child health and wants people to consider donating healthier items to the home, like fruit, vegetables, and sugar-free snacks, instead of the highly processed and high-sugar foods that they usually get.

While Nokuthula often feels left out of the fun, the home is making it their mission this Easter to embrace her diabetes and teach the other kids about it. While she may not have marshmallow chocolate eggs, she will have sugar-free chocolate to celebrate with the other kids.
If you wish to assist the home, contact 011 948 7917 or visit www.tlc.org.za.
The home is also open Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 15:00 and you can find them at Plot 26a 2nd Avenue, Walkerville.