Stories
Diabetes Awareness at BSRC
Wednesday 31st May 2023
With Diabetes Week on the horizon, we were delighted to host an advocate from Diabetes UK to talk to our service users about a condition that hits the Somali community disproportionally hard. In her day job, Fardowsa is a pharmacist. But in her free time, Fardowsa volunteers to help people understand and avoid diabetes, or limit its impact on their lives.
"Working as a pharmacist, I have served many people with diabetes," she says. She realised "how the right information can empower people and give them the tools to manage their condition". For Fardowsa, this is part of a vital battle against health inequalities. Being embedded in Bristol's Somali community, she feels that BSRC was the perfect venue for that outreach. A fluent speaker of Somali herself, Fardowsa has the skills to share her understanding of diabetes even with those with little English.
For Fardowsa, the personal touch is essential to making an impact. This means "having the opportunity to chat with people about their personal concerns and worries about their health, and giving them the space to ask questions". With such an open and welcoming approach, it was no surprise, then, to see dozens of people coming to her desk to seek her information and advice.