Well.... :-) That took me almost forever, to get to the point where I could post something here.
My name is Emily, and I'm an American living in the Netherlands. I few years ago, I lived in Belgium, and my friend Diana still lives there. She is a wonderful woman (creative, humorous, kind) but she is suffering terribly from Chronic fatigue and lots of other stuff combined with it (scoliosis, kidney infections, insomnia, thyroid problems, digestive trouble... you name it.) She can't get out of the house (it takes too much effort) and hardly anyone comes to visit her. Her marriage is falling apart, and even though her husband not treating her well at all, she doesn't see any possibility to leave him. (She has no money and no income, and of course no energy....) The only way she has contact with others is by telephone (she can check her email but typing is too painful and sitting for any length of time in front of the computer screen gives her headaches.) I do what I can to cheer her up on the phone, and I drive down to visit her every month or two.... but it seems to me that she could *really* use a community of people to talk to, preferably people who really understand what she is going through. She had one special friend like that for the last few years, but recently this person decided to take a distance, and the emptiness and lonliness is torture for Diana.
So I thought what I could do for her is maybe spend some time on the computer (which also gives me headaches after a while, but it is overall much easier for me that for Diana, as I am in good health) and see if I could find her a community. Then I would get Diana a Skype phone and show her how to use it. Then she could call people for support -- and to give support herself. That is the one activity she has now, as a sort of distraction from her misery -- she volunteers at a hotline and gives emotional support to people who call in. (She can't call the hotline herself, because there's a charge for the person calling and she can't afford it. When I heard about that, I have to admit I said some nasty things about the hotline under my breath. She works for them for free, and they charge desperate, sick and lonely people money, and they can't even arrange to give her a credit toward her own phone call?.... but I digress)
And here I am. Am I in the right place, do you think? Anyone have other ideas? Diana's first language is Dutch and ideally some Dutch-speaking friends who might occasionally be able to visit would be great... but right now I think *anything* would help. (her English is very good) Unfortunately, I'm pretty new at all this stuff myself (only got a webcam and Skype last month) so I don't know if I am chasing down false leads. If the people on this forum don't "do" phone contacts, I can understand that (there could be security or privacy issues involved, I suppose) but I hope someone can point me in a good direction.
And, um, what do I do now? I suppose I shouldn't give my own email address here, but I wonder if I will get a notification if someone responds? I guess I'll find out.
Thanks for creating this forum; from what I've seen, it is a great service for people who really need it.... the internet can be so useful sometimes....
My name is Emily, and I'm an American living in the Netherlands. I few years ago, I lived in Belgium, and my friend Diana still lives there. She is a wonderful woman (creative, humorous, kind) but she is suffering terribly from Chronic fatigue and lots of other stuff combined with it (scoliosis, kidney infections, insomnia, thyroid problems, digestive trouble... you name it.) She can't get out of the house (it takes too much effort) and hardly anyone comes to visit her. Her marriage is falling apart, and even though her husband not treating her well at all, she doesn't see any possibility to leave him. (She has no money and no income, and of course no energy....) The only way she has contact with others is by telephone (she can check her email but typing is too painful and sitting for any length of time in front of the computer screen gives her headaches.) I do what I can to cheer her up on the phone, and I drive down to visit her every month or two.... but it seems to me that she could *really* use a community of people to talk to, preferably people who really understand what she is going through. She had one special friend like that for the last few years, but recently this person decided to take a distance, and the emptiness and lonliness is torture for Diana.
So I thought what I could do for her is maybe spend some time on the computer (which also gives me headaches after a while, but it is overall much easier for me that for Diana, as I am in good health) and see if I could find her a community. Then I would get Diana a Skype phone and show her how to use it. Then she could call people for support -- and to give support herself. That is the one activity she has now, as a sort of distraction from her misery -- she volunteers at a hotline and gives emotional support to people who call in. (She can't call the hotline herself, because there's a charge for the person calling and she can't afford it. When I heard about that, I have to admit I said some nasty things about the hotline under my breath. She works for them for free, and they charge desperate, sick and lonely people money, and they can't even arrange to give her a credit toward her own phone call?.... but I digress)
And here I am. Am I in the right place, do you think? Anyone have other ideas? Diana's first language is Dutch and ideally some Dutch-speaking friends who might occasionally be able to visit would be great... but right now I think *anything* would help. (her English is very good) Unfortunately, I'm pretty new at all this stuff myself (only got a webcam and Skype last month) so I don't know if I am chasing down false leads. If the people on this forum don't "do" phone contacts, I can understand that (there could be security or privacy issues involved, I suppose) but I hope someone can point me in a good direction.
And, um, what do I do now? I suppose I shouldn't give my own email address here, but I wonder if I will get a notification if someone responds? I guess I'll find out.
Thanks for creating this forum; from what I've seen, it is a great service for people who really need it.... the internet can be so useful sometimes....
Norway
