‘‘It sounds a bit strange but when I was diagnosed with a hypermobility syndrome I actually felt relieved. For a big part of my life I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I would always feel so exhausted and my body would hurt. When the doctor diagnosed me I finally knew I wasn’t exaggerating. Because my condition isn’t something you can see from the outside it is really hard for other people to understand my limitations. Because of my limitations its really hard to find a job. Even if I were employed I probably would be physically disapproved. However, I don’t want to have to depend on welfare and I belief I can contribute to society with my art. I never gave up my passion for painting and illustrating so I decided to work as a freelancer. There is a lot of competition in my field and still I am struggling to get enough work but I really love my job. I am also really blessed with the people around me. My boyfriend for example, he doesn’t make a big deal out of my condition and he gives me the feeling that I am much more than my disease. Also my friends are incredible. 9 out of 10 times I am fatigue and I have to cancel going to their events such as birthday parties and weddings because I am experiencing a lot of physical pain. Still they keep inviting me even though I can never really commit. That just means the world to me.‘‘

“Every morning I wake up at 4:45AM just to get to work here in Amsterdam. I’m from the North of the country and I’m actually a carpenter not a construction worker but since to financial crisis it’s hard to get a contract so I take any job I can get. I make long heavy days, I spend a lot of time in traffic but honestly I’m just glad that I have a job.”

“Not too many people know that I am a graduated doctor. Even though I loved studying medicine, the hospital wasn’t the right environment for me to work in. When I graduated, a friend of mine who had just finished his studies in business asked me to become his business partner. He had this idea to open a Tea Bar here in Amsterdam which is quite revolutionary since here in The Netherlands there is mainly a coffee culture. It was quite a switch from studying Medicine to becoming an entrepreneur but I was really excited to start this adventure. We worked incredibly hard to visualize what we had in mind. The beautiful thing about tea is that so many countries have their own tea and tea-traditions.
I myself have Moroccan roots and my business partner is Pakistani so we both try to bring a bit of our own culture through tea. At the same time we are constantly exploring the world through tea-traditions. It is really a beautiful way to get to know the world.”

“About a year and a half ago, someone knocked on my door late at night. When I opened it, my mother was standing there with tears in her eyes. She didn’t have to say anything – my father had died. He had a rare heart condition, so we knew, at some point, that he would just go. It was peaceful, apparently, and very quick. My mother found him in his favorite chair at home with a book in his lap and a coffee on the table. My world collapsed. Growing up all I wanted was for him to be proud of me. I was so afraid he’d die and think of me as a disappointment. But three days before he died, during our last phone call, although we didn’t know that yet, he said “kid, the world is yours for the taking, and I’m so proud of you, and my work here is done.” I had just graduated with a bachelor’s and I was making plans for grad school. When I was younger, because of his condition, he was always trying to impart wisdom just in case he wasn’t around when I needed it – so for example he gave me serious relationship advice when I was twelve and it made no sense to me. Six months after he died I went through a really difficult breakup, and his decade old advice suddenly came back to my mind. He did everything he could as a father, to prepare me for the world.
I came to Amsterdam a year ago to do a master’s degree. The first few months were really hard. I was afraid to make friends of get attached, I think, because I was afraid to lose more than I already had. But there’s something about Amsterdam that either forces you or encourages you to just figure things out, and slowly I reached out and made friends and connected to family and really settled in. And Amsterdam became home. Coming here when I did turned out to be the best thing I could do for myself. This city has healed me. Right now I’m on my way to meet my Mum. She’s visiting because tomorrow is my graduation. That my Dad isn’t here as well is – is really hard. But today would’ve been his birthday, so we’re going out to get cake and celebrate.“

“My dad was on of the best Ice hockey players of the country, so the sport has always been a big part of my upbringing. Growing up my dad was the coach of my team which wasn’t always easy, especially not when you are a teenagers and you start to rebel against your parents. When my parents divorced I lived with my mum so most of my quality time with my dad was spend on the field. He is extremely passionate about the sport so he always tried to share his knowledge with me. As a teenager I did not always understood his advice and often I felt criticized. When I got a little older I started to understand that he was trying to teach me some important life lessons. A few years ago my team was lacking a player so my dad stepped in. He was already 55 but he was still able to play with so much strength. It was an incredible experience for me to play with my dad. He taught me that if you want to succeed, you need to work hard and push your boundaries. That applies to ice hockey but also to life.”