* Eisteddfod president Terry Waite was interviewed on Sky TV.
Terry Waite, who is the much-respected president of Llangollen
International Musical Eisteddfod, has been speaking about what the coronavirus
crisis means for himself and the rest of the country.
And the 80-year-old former church envoy had some tips on
how to make it successfully through lockdown.
Mr Waite, who won’t now be making his usual appearance in
town after social distancing rules led to the postponement of this year’s
eisteddfod in July, was being interviewed for Sky TV from his home in rural
Suffolk where has seen in self isolation.
He first explained how he spent around five years in
captivity in war-torn Beirut after himself being taken prisoner by extremists
while he was interceding on behalf of hostages in 1987.
He told the interviewer how he was first held in an
underground cell and later a bombed-out building, often chained to a radiator for
over 22 hours a day without human company or contact with the outside world.
He said: “Many people at the present time must also be
deeply worried, about their jobs, their future and their family.
“I was worried about my family, my own situation and if I
would live and had to come to terms with these extreme feelings.
“The way to do this was to try and live for the moment,
to try to make the most of living as fully as possible. That was my way of
surviving.
“It’s about adjusting to the situation we find ourselves
in and for the majority of us it will be fine.”
During lockdown he said it was also important for people
to keep their dignity and self-respect.
Telling a story about how at the end of each day in his
captivity he would take off his trousers, carefully fold them and then put them
under his bed to press them, he said: “Don’t just sit around all day in your
dressing gown or pyjamas.
“Form a structure for the day. At the moment I’m using my
time to write another book.”
Asked what society would learn about the coronavirus
crisis, he said: “A situation like often brings out the best in people and I
hope it will bring a new sense of community and society when we’ve been through
all this.”
* To see he full interview, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM9ciXrjP-4
No comments:
Post a Comment