THE GREAT TREK ON THE GREAT WALL FOR A GREAT CAUSE
Of all the World's wonders, it has been said that nothing evokes more astonishment in those who visit it than the Great Wall of China. Its 4,000 mile length, scale, age and cultural significance make it unique amongst mankind's achievements. The Great Wall takes its guest across deserts, over mountain peaks and through 2,000 years of history.
The above text is pretty much how the Great Wall of China is introduced in a fascinating book I'm reading*. It paints a truly awesome image of the Great Wall and describes a feat of civil engineering made even more astonishing when you consider the rudimentary tools and materials used at the time. The Great Wall is a monument to mankind's ambition that has not, and may never be, surpassed in terms of scale and sheer audacity. I'm reading the book ahead of my trip in August to Beijing and the Great Wall of China. I will be trekking across a section of the wall and in the process raising funds for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
JDRF is the leading charitable organisation in the world with the primary objective of finding the cure for Type 1 diabetes and its potential complications. Determination is a powerful force and one that JDRF isn't lacking. Just like the engineers that masterminded the construction of the Great Wall, JDRF and its supporters display great determination and are adamant that a cure for Type 1 diabetes will be found.
I will be trekking the Great Wall as one of a 40 strong team made up of LifeScan (a Johnson & Johnson company) employees from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. LifeScan is funding the costs associated with the trek so all monies raised will go directly to JDRF.
As I prepare the trip, I too feel determined to both continue raising funds and to get in shape for this truly once in a lifetime experience. Fuelling my determination is hearing the experiences of children and their parents living with diabetes. As a parent it's great to be able to nurse my daughter back to health when she's not feeling well. However, for those children living with diabetes, the families have to manage the condition 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for life! As one mother put it "...nothing will ever be the same, I can't just kiss it better."
Children with Type 1 diabetes are reliant on multiple insulin injections or pump infusions every day just to stay alive. They may need to inject themselves with insulin up to 2000 times a year. They may also have to test their blood glucose level up to 6 times a day. Potentially, that's more than 44,000 injections and finger prick tests by the time they are 18 years old.
The Great Wall has been subject to many misconceptions over the years, notably that it can viewed from space. This long-standing assertion has been quashed through space exploration. There are also a number of misconceptions about diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person's pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. Type 1 diabetes usually strikes in childhood although it can also affect adults. It lasts a lifetime and requires daily injections of insulin and finger-prick blood glucose monitoring. A person with Type 1 diabetes must constantly try to balance insulin and food intake to avoid hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar), both of which can lead to serious long term complications. Type 1 diabetes can happen to anyone and is not caused by anything that the person with Type 1 diabetes, or their parents, did or did not do.
I enjoy walking, mainly because of the time and space it gives me to reflect. As I begin to make a list of the items and equipment I'll need for the trek, I'm thinking "I better wear-in my new boots before I leave". Sections of the Great Wall are built on mountain terrains where walking is a challenge, let alone constructing a wall with basic tools. It's been well documented that the hard-labour required to build the Great Wall resulted in untold numbers of deaths. This seems a million miles away from JDRF's cause to save lives. At a global level JDRF volunteers and staff have been responsible for raising over �600 million to support Type 1 diabetes research since the charity's inception.
Someone once said: "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy"
This was certainly true in respect to the construction of the Great Wall of China, as it is also of JDRF's mission. I'm certain it also stretches to the effort and commitment shown by the LifeScan team, who will soon be trekking the Great Wall to raise funds to support JDRF in its efforts to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes
* The Great Wall by Michael Yamashita and William Lindesay, published by Sterling Publishing Co. Inc (2007)