Life With Diabetes
Hala Khalaf is the author of Young Voices: Life With Diabetes (John
Wiley & Sons, 2005). Her book is an intimate portrayal of how culture
influences the daily lives of 13 young people with diabetes from around
the world.
Khalaf, 24, was born in Kuwait and has worked as a journalist in Canada
and Jordan. In 2004, she was awarded the Novo Nordisk Media Prize for her
article The Truth About Diabetes (Jo, March 2004). The award is given to
the best article on diabetes and is evaluated by an independent
international jury.
After winning the prize, Novo Nordisk sent Khalaf on a journey around the
world to eight countries on four continents to interview 13 children with
diabetes from different cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. The result
is her photographic and narrative book Young Voices: Life With Diabetes.
What was the most rewarding aspect of writing this book?
I would have to say the opportunity to travel the world, learn about
different cultures and backgrounds and meet incredible people who, in
their lives with diabetes, constantly portrayed strength and perseverance.
It was an honor and a privilege for me to have found a way to direct my
writing toward raising awareness on a subject I have truly come to believe
in.
How do you feel this book will affect the way diabetics feel about the
disease?
I can only hope this book will become the inspiration that I dream for it
to be. I hope it allows people living with diabetes young and old to think
of themselves as people, not solely as patients or diabetics. I hope the
stories show all people living with diabetes that having strength, an
optimistic attitude, a willingness and readiness to take control and a
drive to live life to the fullest can allow one to overcome the limits
that may be imposed by diabetes, and allow a person living with diabetes
to enjoy life. Most of all, I hope that anyone reading the stories and
enjoying the beauty and depth of the pictures whether or not they have
diabetes will be able to look beyond the disease in order to understand
the personal side of diabetes.
What were some of the most inspiring stories you discovered on the photo
shoot?
First of all, it is impossible for me to pinpoint one story as more
inspiring than any other. Throughout this experience, I was inspired,
moved and motivated by every single person I met and every story I heard
as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. Our experience
with the individuals in the stories you read about in Young Voices could
not be described as a photo shoot. Jesper Westley, the photographer, and I
practically lived with each one of the young people we interviewed. We
spent entire days with them, watching them interact with their families
and friends, watching them live their lives and engage in countless
activities. It is this intense interaction that was the most inspiring for
us, because we truly had the opportunity to meet the person behind the
disease. To get the book, visit www.amazon.com.
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