Her Brother’s Diagnosis Inspired 15-YO’s Mission to Help 15000 Kids with Type 1 Diabetes

Originally reported and written in July 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content. Life was pretty normal for Divaa, her brother Surya, and their parents. Both the children were attending school from home due to COVID restrictions. However, everything changed in 2020 when Surya, who was nine years old at the time, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes . Since their parents were doctors, he had access to the best healthcare and medicines. Yet, the diagnosis came as a shock, especially to Divaa, who was only 12 years old then. “I really didn’t know what Type 1 diabetes was at that time. It took about two to three months to get used to the situation. Since we were at home at the time, my parents were able to monitor him. He slowly got the knack of the insulin injections and the lifestyle changes,” says 15- year-old Divaa Uthkarsha, a student of Class 10 at National Public School, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru. She says that despite having access to the best resources, they faced several challenges. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Project Surya (@project_surya_) “There is a stigma surrounding diabetes. Previously, I used to think that it only affected adults. Other schoolchildren may not be well-informed and could treat a child with diabetes differently. Children with diabetes already have to cope with a lot of changes, such as exercise, diet, medication, glucose monitoring, etc. In fact, it requires a complete lifestyle change,” she adds. This got her thinking about how it must be for people in a similar situation without resources and awareness. So in 2021, when Divaa joined the Future Leaders Program by 1M1B (One Million for One Billion), she knew what cause she would champion. She initiated Project Surya to support underprivileged...