Every year the children are taken on a trip to places of interest, for fun, and for, inculcating a sense of curiosity and wonderment. Similarly, this year i.e. on 10^th October 2015, the entire team braved a long, three-hour journey to Sriharikota, 120 kms from Chennai. Sriharikota is surrounded by Pulicat Lake, home to many migratory birds; the children were excited to get a glimpse of pelicans, gulls, ducks, storks and flamingos, as we sped by. We headed to The Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), one of the well-known spaceports in the world, which is located in Sriharikota. Since it is a restricted zone, we had to get special permission to see the ‘rocket-launching’ place.

We were also transported to two venues where the rockets are launched. Apparently, the rocket is assembled in different places, and then brought here by different teams, who coordinate till the takeoff. The assembled rocket is then transferred on wheel bogeys to the Umbilical Tower (UT), which feeds the propellants to the rocket before it takes off. Children were excited to peep into the ‘forbidden’ area, which is a 12 meter deep well trough that helps deflect the exhaust from the rocket during the launch. The entire area is cordoned off hours before the launch. Some of the concerned queries from the children were, “What about the sea animals”, “What about the flora and fauna”, ‘What about the rate of success and failure’, to which they got adequate answers regarding the precautions taken before the launch. It came as a surprise that rate of success or failure is 100 or 0, respectively.

It was time to bid adieu after an exciting trip. The children were proud to learn that diverse kind of space missions with remote sensing, communications and scientific satellites are accomplished, not only in other countries abroad but also, in India. Since the centre itself made all the arrangements regarding food, the children were well fortified throughout the trip. The only disappointment was, that no photographs were allowed inside, but, as one can see, many photographs were taken outside the centre. There were no untoward happenings, even after such a long and arduous trip, thereby giving the children a sense of joie de vivre and self-confidence.

During this trip the children learnt self discipline, managing their diabetes on their own, did self injections, managed their insulin pumps and self monitoring of their blood sugars. The older children with type 1 diabetes supported their younger peers sharing their experiences in their journey through life with Type 1 diabetes. The adolescent children who were noted to be “quiet, introverts” at home and school formed their teams and were noted to be happy and cheerful .The positive spirit and the experiences during  the trip encouraged children to feel normal and increased their confidence in self management of their diabetes .