Children’s Congress 2013 Blog: Day One
Children’s Congress is an event held every 2 years that brings together over 150 youth delegates, ages 4-17, in Washington D.C. to testify before Congress on the importance of type 1 diabetes research funding. The Greater Iowa chapter’s Children’s Congress delegate, Sarah Horn, kept a blog throughout this year’s Children’s Congress to recount all of her experiences. Thank you for your hard work, Sarah!
Day One:
The first day of Children’s Congress was a long one, but exciting! Ā It was incredible to meet so many other kids who have type 1 diabetes (T1D) and want a cure right now! Ā We were all fired up to get started.
Our first connection with CC was on our connecting flight from Detroit to Washington, DC. Ā The kids had all agreed to wear JDRF shirts on the flights so we could spot each other, and it worked! Ā We sat directly behind one of the Oklahoma delegates on the airplane. Ā We chatted for a little while at he beginning of the flight, but we were both tired from traveling, so we took naps. Ā Unfortunately, we were reminded how tough it can be it can be to have T1D when he went low during his nap and had a seizure! Ā It was scary for everyone, but luckily his parents had their diabetes emergency kit and gave him some glucagon. Ā He was better in no time. Ā But he had a great story to tell his Senators and Representatives about why diabetes stinks!
Once we got to the hotel, we got to start meeting other delegates. Ā There are 161 delegates in all, from all over the world! Ā Some of them have diabetic alert dogs.
Our first time we all got together we sang the āPromise to Remember Meā song with Crystal Bowersox. Ā Crystal has had T1D since she was 6 and was a runner up on American Idol. Ā She has an awesome voice, and it was really fun. Ā Then, we got to meet Gary Hall, Jr. Ā He’s an Olympic Gold medal swimmer who also has type 1. Ā It was awesome to meet grown ups who do great things with T1D.
I can’t wait to see what we do on Day 2! Children’s Congress is awesome!