About two years ago, Gaby Muniz was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Since then, her family has been navigating the complicated treatment that comes with it.

“There’s a lot that goes into it,” said Gaby’s mother, Victoria Muniz. “For an adult, it’s not a big deal, but for a child, it is a really big deal.”

It’s a disease that roughly 5,000 children face in our community; 1,700 of them have Type 1 and the rest have Type 2 diabetes.

"Because we are one of the most obese cities in our country we have a large population that are morbidly obese,” said Debra Franco, executive director and founder of the South Texas Juvenile Diabetes Association.

The STJDA is helping children and their families learn ways to manage it. This summer, Gaby attended their program “Camp Freedom” for the first time.

"They teach me how to finger poke myself."

Her parents used to prick her finger for her so they could test her blood sugar and now she does it by herself. She also learned how to count her carbs at camp.

"So I have my pdm and then I put how much carbs I’m eating and then I put my blood glucose in and then it tells me how much insulin to give".

Every year, STJDA brings diabetic children together for a week-long residential camp, where kids learn more about the disease and how to manage it on their own.

“It really empowers our kids to go out there and conquer the world without being defined by diabetes,” Franco said.