×

News publications and other organizations are encouraged to reuse Direct Relief-published content for free under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International), given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

When republishing:

  • Include a byline with the reporter’s name and Direct Relief in the following format: "Author Name, Direct Relief." If attribution in that format is not possible, include the following language at the top of the story: "This story was originally published by Direct Relief."
  • If publishing online, please link to the original URL of the story.
  • Maintain any tagline at the bottom of the story.
  • With Direct Relief's permission, news publications can make changes such as localizing the content for a particular area, using a different headline, or shortening story text. To confirm edits are acceptable, please check with Direct Relief by clicking this link.
  • If new content is added to the original story — for example, a comment from a local official — a note with language to the effect of the following must be included: "Additional reporting by [reporter and organization]."
  • If republished stories are shared on social media, Direct Relief appreciates being tagged in the posts:
    • Twitter (@DirectRelief)
    • Facebook (@DirectRelief)
    • Instagram (@DirectRelief)

Republishing Images:

Unless stated otherwise, images shot by Direct Relief may be republished for non-commercial purposes with proper attribution, given the republisher complies with the requirements identified below.

  • Maintain correct caption information.
  • Credit the photographer and Direct Relief in the caption. For example: "First and Last Name / Direct Relief."
  • Do not digitally alter images.

Direct Relief often contracts with freelance photographers who usually, but not always, allow their work to be published by Direct Relief’s media partners. Contact Direct Relief for permission to use images in which Direct Relief is not credited in the caption by clicking here.

Other Requirements:

  • Do not state or imply that donations to any third-party organization support Direct Relief's work.
  • Republishers may not sell Direct Relief's content.
  • Direct Relief's work is prohibited from populating web pages designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
  • Advance permission is required to translate Direct Relief's stories into a language different from the original language of publication. To inquire, contact us here.
  • If Direct Relief requests a change to or removal of republished Direct Relief content from a site or on-air, the republisher must comply.

For any additional questions about republishing Direct Relief content, please email the team here.

Living with Diabetes is a Challenge. It’s Even Harder After an Earthquake.

News

Mexico Earthquake 2017

An emotional support dog, Toboggan, visits children in a shelter for those displaced by the earthquake in Mexico City's neighborhood of Santa Cruz Atoyac. According to officials, at least 500 homes in the city are condemned although the numbers are still climbing. (Photo by Meghan Dhaliwal for Direct Relief)
By Meghan Dhaliwal

MEXICO CITY – Ariel Lopez, 29, watches vigilantly as his mother gets her teeth cleaned. Even while speaking to others, his eyes never leave his mother—ever watchful over one of the last things he has. Lopez is sitting in the courtyard of the Centro Recreativo Niños Heroes in Mexico City’s neighborhood of Santa Cruz Atoyac. The recreation center has been converted into a shelter for those displaced by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the city last week, currently housing an estimated 85 people. When asked about their home, Lopez’s face crumples. Between tears, he whispers, “I just can’t answer that question right now.”

Marta Vasquez, 68, and her son Ariel Lopez, 29, at a shelter for those displaced by the earthquake in Mexico City’s neighborhood of Santa Cruz Atoyac. When asked about their home, Lopez’s face crumples and tears start to flow. “I just can’t answer that question right now,” he whispers. (Photo by Meghan Dhaliwal for Direct Relief)

According to officials, at least 500 homes in Mexico City were badly damaged in the quake, leaving families homeless overnight—many turning to the dozens of makeshift shelters popping up all over the city. Lopez says he and his mother, Marta Vasquez, 68, are doing their best to stay busy with the activities offered at the shelter. Today, they are having their teeth cleaned and blood glucose levels checked at a pop-up clinic set up by Asociacion Mexicana de Diabetes and Direct Relief. The clinic aims to provide care for those suffering from or at risk of developing diabetes, but anyone can come for a dental check-up or blood glucose check.

Carlos, 11, and his mother and father watch as he gets his teeth cleaned at a pop-up clinic set up by Asociacion Mexicana de Diabetes (AMD) and Direct Relief at a recreation center now serving as a shelter for those displaced from the earthquake. The clinic aims to provide care for those suffering from or at risk of developing diabetes, but anyone can come for a dental check-up or blood glucose check. (Photo by Meghan Dhaliwal for Direct Relief)

For Gabi Allard, president of Asociacion Mexicana de Diabetes, treatment for those with diabetes is an urgent concern in the wake of the quake. Up to 14 million people in Mexico suffer from diabetes, with nearly 2 million of those people in Mexico City. And, says Allard, there is the risk that many people living unknowingly as pre-diabetics have been pushed over the threshold to diabetes from the stress of the earthquake and subsequent losses. So Gaby has a plan. In the week after the earthquake, Gaby and her team at AMD and partners at Direct Relief have gathered blood glucose meters test strips, and dental equipment and have started rotating through Mexico City’s near 200 shelters. “We use the teeth cleaning to draw people in, “ says Allard. “And then we test their blood glucose levels. In doing this, we can talk to people about their levels and see who needs more help [maintaining healthy levels].”

A patient receives a take-home chart with their blood glucose reading at a pop-up clinic set up by Asociacion Mexicana de Diabetes (AMD) and Direct Relief at a recreation center now serving as a shelter for those displaced from the earthquake. The clinic aims to provide care for those suffering from or at risk of developing diabetes, but anyone can come for a dental check-up or blood glucose check. (Photo by Meghan Dhaliwal for Direct Relief)

Control of diabetes means a carefully monitored diet and up to $150 a month on blood sugar test strips and other medications to control levels. In the aftermath of a natural disaster, people who have lost everything are at a higher risk of losing control over their disease and falling in to a diabetic coma. “This is an urgent cause,” says Allard.

Itzel Téllez, a program manager with AMD, lives with diabetes. She recounts the few horrible moments of the earthquake that caused so much damage, and worries for the people whose damage is internal instead of external. “Your diabetes continues at every moment, and you need someone to support you in this moment so you can maintain control and not get sick.”

Guillermo Maldonado Hernandez (right) gets his blood glucose level read by Natith Reza Tomes, a diabetes nutrition educator at a pop-up clinic Tuesday. Hernandez is a maintenance worker in Iztapalapa, an area hit hard by the 7.1 magnitude earthquake. When asked how long he foresees staying at the shelter, he says he doesn’t know. “I don’t think anyone knows.” (Photo by Meghan Dhaliwal for Direct Relief)

Dominguero Limon Monica knows the danger of stress for diabetics intimately: after the earthquake, her blood glucose levels shot to a perilously high 380. After having her finger pricked at the pop-up clinic, her level comes back at a normal 126. Monica, who works at the recreation-center-turned-shelter, says that her diabetes is mostly under control but the hardest part is diet. “We work so long here, and so we eat what is available on the street—quesadillas, tacos, tlacoyos.” The corn-based fried foods aren’t exactly ideal for a diabetic system. But, Monica says, she is lucky. Through an insurance program, she says that her only costs are about $25 a month for test strips—still a hefty sum in a country where the average monthly salary is $87. “But not everyone is so lucky,” she says to the small crowd at the clinic. Gaby Allard looks on, nodding.

– Meghan Dhaliwal is a journalist based in Mexico City.

Filed Under: , , ,

Giving is Good Medicine

You don't have to donate. That's why it's so extraordinary if you do.