Diabetes Prevention & Community Health
FMFM Launches Community Diabetes Screening Initiative
For more than a decade, Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds (FMFM) has partnered with trusted local organizations across sub-Saharan Africa to advance food security, expand access to clean water, strengthen education, and improve community health. Building on these longstanding partnerships, FMFM is expanding its impact to address diabetes prevention. As diabetes becomes an increasingly urgent public health challenge, many rural communities continue to face limited access to education, early screening, medications, and ongoing care. Through this initiative, FMFM aims to help close these gaps and support healthier, more resilient communities.
FMFM believes diabetes prevention and care must begin within the community. Our long-standing relationships with local leaders, healthcare providers, and community organizations allow us to reach individuals who are often beyond the reach of traditional healthcare systems. By partnering with trusted local networks, we create sustainable, culturally relevant programs that strengthen existing healthcare infrastructure rather than replace it.
In June and July 2026, FMFM launched pilot medical camps in Ngong Hills and Gatune, Kenya, providing diabetes and hypertension screenings, nutrition education, disease prevention resources, and self-management training to more than 500 individuals. The response confirmed both the significant need for diabetes services and the effectiveness of a community-centered model rooted in local partnership and trust.
Our vision extends far beyond screening events. FMFM is building a scalable model that integrates prevention, education, nutrition, early detection, access to medications and supplies, and long-term follow-up into a continuous pathway of care. By addressing diabetes alongside the social determinants of health, including nutrition, food security, clean water, education, and economic opportunity, we aim to reduce disease burden before complications occur and empower individuals to take control of their health.
Grant support will help FMFM expand community-based diabetes screening and prevention programs, strengthen diabetes education, improve access to essential medications and monitoring supplies, equip local healthcare providers with additional resources, and measure outcomes to refine a model that can be replicated across underserved communities.
Building on successful pilots in Kenya and Malawi, FMFM plans to expand this initiative throughout countries where trusted partnerships already exist, including Rwanda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Our goal is to create a sustainable framework for diabetes prevention and care that is locally led, scalable, and capable of transforming health outcomes for generations.
As awareness of diabetes continues to rise across Africa, the opportunity for early intervention has never been greater. With support from partners like Omnipod, FMFM can help ensure that geography and income do not determine access to diabetes education, treatment, and hope. Together, we can empower communities to prevent disease, improve lives, and build healthier futures.
With gratitude,
Brittni Hesse, RDN, CDCES
Volunteer Healthcare Professional
Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds
Maria Nicholas-Groves
Founder & Executive Director
Feeding Mouths, Filling Minds
