The engine behind Glice Cluj Association is Truta Ramona, nurse by profession, mother of two children (one of whom with diabetes) and president of the Glice Cluj Association. Glice means a community where they offer integrated support through access to food and medical devices, education and emotional support for children and adolescents with diabetes and their families in Cluj-Napoca. Together with her partner, Dr. in Psychology Andrada Lupse, Ramona has been carrying on the mission of making patients feel connected in the face of this disease, to know that they are not alone in this journey; together they have created a space of emotional safety where each of them feels seen and understood.
Their message : sharing personal experience is worthwhile
Facts
The association was set up in 2018, 3 years after Ramona’s son had been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
Mission : Learning to be a community which make patients feel connected through their disease; a community which gives integrated support on specific aliments, medical devices, education and emotional support for families in Cluj-Napoca
Slogan : TOGETHER WE CAN SMILE AGAIN
Target groups : children with diabetes and their families
Purpose : learning that diabetes is more than calculating carbohydrates and injecting the insulin; diabetes is about emotions, about the community, about smiles.
Activities:
· Meetings every two months
· On the occasion of the National Day of Diabetes they lit in blue the Cultural House of the Students;
· at the end of the year- a special type of meeting for children and adults with diabetes
· March 2023 - they organised a new kind of event for the Glice community: Oameni Mari cu Diabet (Great people with Diabetes), an event conceived for the families and children with diabetes to show them that it is possible to have a great life in spite of diabetes. 7 speakers with diabetes shared their experience :
✓ Iulia (clinical psychologist) told the audience how to manage your diabetes, while studying, having a career and a family;
✓ Alex (professional athlete) taught the audience that ne we learned that you do not need to give up anything from what you were doing before the diagnosis;
✓ Dr. Doina Olteanu (epidemiologist) shared her knowledge on managing the disease in it’s most stressful moments;
✓ Cristina Petrut (vice-president of the Federal Associations with Diabetes from Romania) informed participants on how she tried to bring knowledge about the diabetes problematic at an European level;
✓ Paula gave her view on how it is to be pregnant while having diabetes;
✓ Diana (nutritionist) talked about how to eat healthy;
✓ Ioana Cosman (historian, scientist and writer) told them about how you can travel the whole world even if you have diabetes.
In conclusion, events like this are a confirmation of the fact that it’s important to tell our story loud and to have faith that we are being heard and understood for who we are.
Also spending time together and finding reasons to celebrate and smile happily on occasions like the National Day of Children, World Diabetes Day, summer holiday camps is the right way for children of all ages and parents to enjoy things just like any other groups gathering around common interests be them hobbies, work or studies.