Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Mujthaba Mahdi Al Mansoor, 16, and Nouf Mohammed Shaheen, 14, from Hamad Town have been suffering from Type 1 diabetes for more than five years and have always been treated at the Paediatric Diabetes Centre at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).
Last year they became ambassadors to the Paediatric Endocrine and Diabetes Health Care team at the hospital.
Both are children of businessmen and are from well-to-do families.
Today, they are very active teenagers busy with school and voluntary work and have their blood sugar levels and lives under control.
They are active at the 'Shrooq' or summer camp organised by the Bahrain Diabetes Association (BDA) and are role models for younger children who have been recently diagnosed with diabetes.
While Nouf is on an insulin pump, Mujthaba injects himself with insulin by using a lantus and a novolet regular insulin pen. These new gadgets have made it possible for diabetics to take their medication anywhere.
In March this year, the youngsters were nominated to attend the second Arab Child Health Congress in Dubai that focussed on diabetes.
"We met doctors who had diabetes for the last 50 years. It was a great revelation and I felt that if they can do so well in life so can we," said Nouf who hopes to become a doctor one day.
Nouf, a grade nine student at Abdul Rahman Kanoo International School, remembers the day when she received the bad news.
"It was on June 2, 2003. I was losing weight, could not concentrate and was vomiting. I was aware from a previous talk in school about what diabetes was and I felt that I was suffering from it," she explained.
Her mother, Nada, recollects that Nouf's blood sugar levels were way above 400 on that day (the normal level is between 70 and 110).
"I was shocked. I started crying. No one has diabetes in my family and I thought it was not possible for my nine-year old to have any life-long disease," she said.
Nouf felt different and important in the first two-weeks at the hospital but soon devastation set in.
"I am a chocolate fan and I love sweets. Suddenly I had to be aware of everything I did. I was wondering - 'Why me?' and why could I not have more freedom," she said.
But support from school mates, friends and teachers helped her take charge of her life.
"They were all looking after me. Helping me eat right, taking care of me," she explained.
The real change in her outlook came after attending the summer camp organised by BDA.
"Here I met many more children with diabetes and I felt that I was not alone. Along with loads of fun activities we learned about the right foods, importance of exercise, calorie counting, and taking insulin injections. We were also trained on dealing with situations of high and low sugar."
Nouf has attended four camps and is now an active member volunteering to take part in activities that show that diabetes does not have to be inhibitive.
"I love bungee jumping. I am independent and I attend birthday parties and play games. I have to just check my sugar levels, sometimes up to eight times a day, but I get on with my life.
"I want to spread awareness about diabetes," she added.
Mujthaba's diabetes was also detected when he was nine years old.
His elder sister is also a sufferer and his mother knew something was wrong when he would drink up to seven glasses of juice a day.
His mother, Huda, recalls: "We checked his sugar at home that night and it was up to 310. His father suggested that we wait for the morning as possibly it was an error. I spent my entire night praying, crying and hoping that it was all a dream. But the next day his sugar levels were 500 plus."
Mujthaba, now a Grade 11 student at the government school in Isa Town, said that he was not a very active child who spent all his time playing computer games. Initially he was very careless about his health and had to be hospitalised several times with dangerously high sugar levels.
But a lifestyle change occurred after he was made a role model at the last camp.
"Suddenly I had a responsibility to the younger children I was talking to. They get bored very easily if we lecture them. It has to be all related to fun.
"The presentations and games make the days more exciting. And I had to practise what I was talking about," he explained.
"Today I am part of different societies and have got trained in first aid and am a regular at the Bahrain volunteer's society. I am trying to be a delegate at the model United Nations and am planning to give a presentation to all schools on diabetes with the help of BDA."
While this awareness has helped both the families spread the word in the community and among all their family and friends, both agree that it's difficult to change food habits.
"We are determined to raise awareness about the disease and to help others who are suffering from diabetes," said Nouf.
