Young Leader in Diabetes, Stephanie Cesile, reflects on her experience at the World Diabetes Congress. At the Congress, Stephanie was elected to the Young Leaders in Diabetes Executive Council.

“The third Young Leaders in Diabetes (YLD) leadership training programme took place in Vancouver, Canada in November 2015. This time nearly 120 young adults from around the world came together to share their experiences, ideas and passion for acting on diabetes in their communities. I was lucky enough to represent Tasmania and Australia at my second YLD training, alongside two other influential Australians, Ashley from Victoria and Tammy from Western Australia.

The week-long training covered four main streams: advocacy, event planning, project management, and education. The array of speakers were international professionals in their given field as well as Young Leaders sharing their first-hand experiences and insights. Attending two of the streams provided us with desired skills, challenging views and educational tools to bring back to our communities to implement much-needed projects. Connecting and networking with other YLD saw us discuss and workshop various projects, strengths and weaknesses of different countries and potential solutions to pressing issues.

The overall theme was evident relatively quickly: all countries and regions have the same problems, however the magnitude of these problems vary and certain country situations (especially political, religious, socioeconomic status and society views) are sadly hindering development on all levels. Many YLD are addressing this and taking action within their countries to improve the outcomes of people living with diabetes. Here in Australia, we are extremely lucky to have the health care system we have. Yes we still have potential to be even better, but in the scheme of global diabetes, we are so privileged.

The conclusion of the YLD training saw us attend the World Diabetes Congress as country delegates. The YLD were a feature of the opening ceremony, some dressed in traditional national attire, with all of us flying our national flags high and proud. Here we met with other Australian and international delegates, explored the exhibition room, read research posters, and attended our choice of lectures and presentations. An absolutely exciting and packed four days!

On a personal level, being part of such an active and passionate group of international advocates has empowered me beyond expectation. Since joining the program in 2013 I have never so clearly understood the importance and value of accessing such worthy opportunities. I strongly encourage and challenge others, of all ages, to convert their passion of living well with diabetes into powerful actions. The IDF YLD programme has enlightened me to this, and it continues to be one of the most invaluable experiences I have encountered yet!

My involvement in Diabetes Tasmania has blossomed as a result of these realisations, and being part of their activities and events is itself rewarding every time. For this, I can’t thank the incredible teams at Diabetes Tasmania and Diabetes Australia for seeing my passion before I could and providing me the opportunity to join this inspiring community of international advocates.

My time in this programme is not over yet. Ashley and I are now members of the executive council, and Tammy’s on the regional council for the coming 2 years. You can also keep up to date with my community project Type Fun Diabetes with another Tassie mover-and-shaker, Will.

Living well with diabetes is a right. So ensure you do, and be the voice for those who haven’t found theirs yet”

IDF YLD:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/youngleadersindiabetes/
• Twitter: @YLDIntDiabFed

Type Fun Diabetes:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tfdiabetes/?fref=ts
• Twitter: @TeamTFD