Mental Health Meetup: Talking About Death While Living Abroad

Theme for this event:
Between Here and There: Talking About Death While Living Abroad

Living abroad brings freedom, growth, and new beginnings — but it can also raise quiet questions about distance, belonging, and what happens at the end of life.

What does mortality mean when your family lives in another country?
Where is “home” when we think about death?
How does living between cultures shape the way we grieve, remember, and make meaning?

And sometimes, beneath these questions, lies something more personal:
How do we think about our own mortality while building a life far from where we began? What matters most, if life is finite? What would we want for ourselves, and for those we love?

Inspired by the Death Café movement, this salon offers a gently facilitated, open conversation about death and dying in the context of international life — including space to reflect on our own lives and their limits. There is no agenda, no teaching, and no therapy — simply a respectful space to reflect, listen, and share as you feel comfortable.

Whether this topic feels close to you or is simply quietly present, you are welcome to join.

Context for Mental Health Meetups
In 2025, IHL conducted a survey to understand how internationals in Leuven and the surrounding areas were doing. One thing internationals mentioned they needed more of was mental health support.

So we are launching Mental Health Meetups at IHL. Each month, different topics will be featured relating to mental health. The events will be hosted by mental health professionals, bringing their expertise to the international community.

These events will be in a variety of formats. Some will be informational, conversational, interactive, etc. It's a safe space to participate how you would like (active or passive).