Maria Segura received a Diabetes diagnosis in 2007. She remembers being told to exercise and eat healthy but not shown how to do it or where to go for additional help and assistance. Maria remembers eating very little and she would occasionally walk as a part of her physical activity, but didn’t notice any change . In 2013 she attended a training hosted by Familias en Acción for community members to lead Chronic Disease Management Classes. Maria was hesitant about participating, but decided to give it a try.
Through this training, Maria learned about healthy eating, making meal plans and exercise. The training prepared Maria to lead these classes in her community and in her language. The following year, Maria decided to get trained to become a leader on a number of other health education classes through Familias en Acción. She now also leads classes like Empoderate, Diabetes Self Management, Seed to Supper and Un Abrazo.Maria has been able to use all the tools she’s learned and implement them in her own life. Additionally, she is able to share the information with her family member and friends.
In recent months Maria attended a Diabetes Prevention Program offered by Familias en Acción, and was able to convince her husband to also attend the class since he’d been diagnosed as prediabetic. They were both able to complete the 12-month class as couple. In her husband’s last check, he was told that he was no longer considered prediabetic.
Maria’s reason and inspiration for continuing to volunteer are the lives of community members being changed after every class. Maria remembers a community member that traveled from Vancouver to Portland to take the diabetes self management class or the mother who was able to finish the diabetes class and in the process implemented changes in her life and lost weight but at the same time her son who was considered pre-diabetic is no longer in that situation. Maria’s former student Eliseo went from growing a garden for his friends and family to expand it for to the whole community. Maria’s journey continues as she seeks to start her own business by making healthy desserts for community members. Maria believes in the power of education and the difference one can make in our community. Maria’s journey from a patient to community educator is an example of the impact a patient can have when the right tools are provided. The many steps she took along her journey and the many lives she continues to touch also inspires others to do the same.
