Spaaaaaare change, spaaaaaare change

Thank you for lending me an ear today, I’m grateful that you’re here.

A few days ago, a former colleague shared a poignant, intimate post about some of her past struggles. I was around while she was going through it all, and had no idea. I would have wanted to help. Maybe you’d want to help me too, if you knew. I’m your friend, your student, your teacher, your peer – and I could use some help.

I am a first generation academic, a translator, a lecturer, an editor and a compulsive writer. My background is humble, but from it springs a certain… tenacity 

About 8 years ago, I got violently sick with pain flares that lasted weeks, and extreme fatigue. Over the past four years, I’ve been hospitalized 4 times, got surgery twice, and have learned to live as a disabled person. That new state of affairs brought along lots of wisdom, and more losses than I can count. After spending 4 years sick in a demanding PhD program across the globe, I had no choice but to give up, pack up and leave. Over my last years as a PhD student in the US, Covid had hit, and my mother passed. Long story short: we lost the family apartment we had in Paris, and I came home to no home. I found a place to stay temporarily, got some rest, took on teaching little French kids English. Everything was going smoothly enough.

Back in May, I had a relapse, and was off work for a month and a half, with a dramatic impact on finances (I made 1100 euros in the past 4 months), and I could no longer afford to pay rent. I got evicted from that place last week. I am currently staying with a friend, and only thought about reaching out for help a few days ago.

Spaaaaare change, spaaaaaaare change, anybody got spaaaaaaare change?

I thought this page would be a viable alternative to asking directly individual people. I don’t want to risk making anyone uncomfortable (I could see how hard it’d be to just say no, or to have to wait to get the money back, making it all super awkward for all parties), I thought I’d leave it up to you to freely help out, or not. Times are hard, so no pressure at all – besides, I’m good with other types of currencies, just send a little bit of light my way and I promise I’ll make the most of it.

Now for practical purposes, here is what donations would go towards.

I owe some 900 euros for a storage unit that I need to keep now that I’m virtually homeless. I may have found a place to stay that would require me to deposit 1800 euros. I have many other expenses, such as transportation (close to 100 USD a month in Paris), food, medical care.

My personal belongings are scattered among 3 countries and 8 different locations, and once I’m settled, I hope to be able to get my PhD research archives sent from California to France as I’ve been contemplating turning it into a book.

Thank you for making it this far into this post. Doing this is much harder than I thought, and I feel exposed, but I remember my friend’s story I told you about. Maybe someday one of you will be going through tough times. I’d want to know, and I’d want to help. I’ll be making sure to get back on my feet so I’m hopefully in a position to do this. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you feel like it, it’ll be good to hear from you.

Sending love,

Mariam