Studying with chronic pain
Mijntje: 'Manou and I met during the board year of our study association Postelein. During that year, we found out that we both suffer from chronic pain. Although it manifests itself differently in both of us, the way it affects our student life is similar. With chronic pain, you can't easily go out for the night, you have to depend on public transport if you can't get to campus by yourself, and some days it's even impossible to concentrate on your studies because you're in pain.'
Manou: 'It's so helpful that we now have each other to talk about specific things we recognise or encounter in everyday life. We both feel better understood and less lonely because we have a lot of the same experiences. We wanted more students to have that luxury, and that is how we came up with the idea of a support group for students who felt limited by their own bodies. We worked hard, and now we have our own foundation: Mijn Pijn & Moed.'
Mijn Pijn & Moed
Mijntje: 'With Mijn Pijn & Moed, we have two goals: to bring students together who have similar experiences so they can find support in each other, and to offer an alternative for things you can't do with chronic pain. For example, if a night out is not possible, we go out for an evening of games in a cosy and quiet environment. We also organise lectures to learn more about living with chronic pain and accepting it.'
Manou: 'So far, we have already organised a number of activities and have had many positive reactions from students who had a good time and felt better understood. That was really heartwarming to hear. Moreover, it's really fun and educational for us to set up a foundation, and it's nice to see that Radboud University is helping us with our plans. We even received a subsidy from the Radboud Student Fund to further develop our ideas.'
Join Mijn Pijn & Moed
Mijntje: 'There are plenty of things planned for Mijn Pijn & Moed in the near future. I really want to invite everyone to come by and join our activities. If you feel that you are being limited by your body in your student life, in any sense, you are welcome. We also organise activities for people who want to know more about the topic because friends or family suffer from it. We look forward to seeing you at one of our activities!'
Want to know more about what Mijn Pijn & Moed organises?