Updated: 7 October, 2009

Interview: Newsletter University Leiden (24 april 2007)

Reni de Boer hopes to win Miss (Un)Limited title

'There's still a lot of room for improvement in the image that people have of those with a physical handicap,' in the opinion of Reni de Boer.?The Leiden Arts student wants to win the election for the Netherlands Miss (Un)Limited title 2007. This would make her ambassador for one year, representing people with a physical handicap.

Improving the image
Her beauty is undeniable and in spite of her illness (MS)?Multiple Sclerosis,?De Boer's motor functions display the elegance of the ballet dancer. 'I don't think beauty is the primary concern in electing the Miss (Un)Limited for the Netherlands,'she says. It is more important to have something to say, that you have ideas about how to improve the current image of people with a physical limitation. And I do have ideas. I think it is very important to show more people on television and in the newspapers who do not evoke an imasge og someone who needs to be pitied. These are very powerful media. There should be more physically handicapped people in soaps and other programmes, so that they become a familiar image and everyone can see for themselves that they can function in society. 'If I am chosen, I want to direct my efforts mainly towards those who are not handicapped. These are the people to whom the message needs to be communicated. None of what we are saying is news to people with a physical handicap.'

Visibility
Outdoors, the 27-year-old De Boer rides in a wheelchair. She often hears other wheelchair owners complain that they are not treated as adults. De Boer: 'I don't agree with that. In a shop, somebody once explained to me in great detail how I could exchange some trousers, but I consider that more as a sign of awkwardness. People feel uncomfortable when they meet someone with a physical handicap. They don't want to say anything stupid or hurtful, and precisely for that reason it goes wrong. That is why this visibility in the media is so important. Show that you can act quite normally to someone in a wheelchair.'

Fault control system
De Boer has been iunwell since she was seventeen. What seemed at first to be influenza, then Pfeiffer's disease and then ME, turned out only three years ago to be MS. She has the variant of recurrent or intermittent MS De Boer: 'This variant involves having an attack from time to time, which is accompanied by a worsening of the condition. You do recover again but you lose a little more each time. It is therefore important to use medication to postpone or suppress the attacks.' De Boer also wants to get rid of the idea that MS is a muscular disease. 'There is nothing wrong with my muscles. The disease is inside my head, the control system is not working properly. And it doesn't kill you, as I had first thought.'

Text writer or journalist
De Boer's main complaint is her extreme fatigue. She can only manage to work for a few hours a day. She can follow one lecture and study for one hour. Then she is exhausted. It therefore takes her three times as long to study compared to the average student. Before she came to Leiden University, De Boer studied systems engineering, policy analysis and management at the Technical University in Delft, but the journey became too taxing and the job opportunities were also minimal. She therefore switched to History of Art in Leiden, where she lives with her husband. 'I am learning to write and to see contextual connections, skills with which I may be able to work in the future as a text writer or journalist, even if only for a few hours a day.' Preferably outside the home. 'I want to have contact with other people rather than stay at home all the time. 'De Boer is still working for her first year bachelor's diploma, and she certainly plans to finish her studies.

Flexible
De Boer is not depressed, nor is she desperate. 'I don't suffer too much from such problems. The reason is probably that I had a goal right from the beginning of my illness. First, I wanted to finish my high school education, and then to continue studying. However, after having an attack which lands me in hospital with a strong course of Prednison, I do tend to think: 'What's happened to me this time?' That feeling will last for a day or two and I then I start considering how I can handle the new, slightly worse situation. I am quite flexible in that. If there is something I can no longer do, I try to look for something else that I can do. I have a lot of interests, and what makes a difference is, of course, that I have a very stable basis in my husband, my family and my friends. And although it is taking me a very long time to complete my studies, people do realise that I am doing my best, and they show consideration. Why should I worry about it if no one else does?'

Student counsellor
When she came to Leiden, De Boer immediately found her way to the Student Counsellor who is specialised in advising people with a physical handicap. 'He helped me enormously. Of course, I don't manage to obtain the required number of study points in a year and other such things. But everything has been solved in one way or another.' The flexible regulations of the IB Group take care of the rest

The public is now voting
Having got through the first round, De Boer is now in the second round. There are twenty candidates remaining and the round of public voting is now taking place. She has to take care of her own publicity for this round. 'I have a complete campaign team which relieves me of all the work. It consists of my husband, family and friends and I have a site, and?posters and folders which can be downloaded from the site.?Everyone can vote?for her up to 6 May. The twelve women with the most votes wil go through to the final on 6 June, which will be broadcast live by TROS.?

Lucille Werner's idea
If De Boer?wins, a year filled with all kinds of meetings awaits her. Can she cope with that?' I have seen Rose's diary, she was the Miss (Un)Limited?for 2006. It amounts to about two meetings per week. If I don't plan anything else on such days it should work out. I would even like to do it in combination with my studies.'

The Dutch Miss (Un)Limited competition was an idea of Lucille Werner's. Werner, who herself has a physical handicap, is presenter of such programmes as Lingo. The idea was taken up by the TROS, which will also broadcast the finals. One of the sponsors is the National Revalidation Foundation. De Boer thinks the idea of introducing a Miss (Un)Limited competition is fantastic. 'It is all being done with?great regard for integrity, and this also applies to the television programme. I think it is a clever move to link?a 'Miss'?competition, a normal and frequent occurrence, to a physical handicap, which many people consider as unusual. I believe it will appeal to people's curiosity, and it will stimulate many people to watch the programme, which is exactly the idea.'

(24 April 2007/CH)