Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ruby Jones.
Voice 2
And I'm Ryan Geertsma. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Five people sit around a table in a recording studio. One woman is busy preparing for the recording. The other woman and the three men speak quietly to each other. They have not seen each other for a long time! And now, they are going to record a radio programme together. The woman presenting the programme signals for everyone to be quiet. A light in the middle of the table turns red. Music fills the air. The woman presenting speaks into a microphone: "Hello and welcome to the programme. I'm Sue McGregor. And this is "The Reunion".
Voice 2
"The Reunion" is a programme on BBC radio. The idea of it is simple. Each week, the programme brings together a group of people to discuss a particular event in recent history. Each of these people were involved in the event in some way. The programme gives them the chance to talk about their memories. And they discuss how the event changed both their lives and the world around them.
Voice 1
In May 2009, "The Reunion" programme brought together four people who had been in the news in the 1980s and 90s. There were three men and a woman. The men were Brian Keenan, John McCarthy and Terry Waite. They had all been hostages in Lebanon. The woman was Jill Morrell. She was John McCarthy's girlfriend at that time - and she had devoted her time to fighting for John's release. "The Reunion" programme was a special event for all four people.
Voice 2
In the late 1980s and early 90s, there was civil war in Lebanon. Different groups were fighting against each other to gain control of the country. It was an extremely dangerous place for foreigners to visit.
Voice 1
In 1986, Brian Keenan had gone to Lebanon to teach. He was from Northern Ireland. This part of the United Kingdom was also experiencing civil unrest. Brian could not find a job there. So, he decided to go and work in Lebanon. Brian was kidnapped by gunmen as he walked to the university one day.
Voice 2
John McCarthy worked for a television company. In 1986, this company sent him to Lebanon's capital city, Beirut for a month. John was kidnapped as he was driving to the airport to catch his flight home.
Voice 1
Terry Waite worked for a Christian organisation in Britain - the Church of England. His job was to represent the Church in different countries. He would help negotiate in difficult international situations, especially those where human life was in danger. In 1987, Terry Waite went to Beirut. His aim was to negotiate the release of some hostages. Terry planned to meet a man he knew and trusted. A man came to collect Terry. He put a cloth over Terry's eyes. The man put him in a car. But instead of taking him to see the hostages, he captured Terry too.
Voice 2
During "The Reunion" programme, each person shared their thoughts about those events. Jill Morrell worked with John at the TV company. She remembered:
Voice 3
"I was at home. We expected John to arrive later that day. So I was just getting up and thinking about what time I would go to the airport and what I was going to wear. And then the telephone rang. It was my boss from work. He said: "Jill, bad news. John has been kidnapped." Everything changed with that telephone call."
Voice 1
Brian Keenan and John McCarthy were kept prisoner in separate places at first. John remembers this as a very difficult time:
Voice 4
"I was kept in an underground prison. I was extremely frightened. And I think I went through a process of examining my life and feeling that I had not achieved much. I was growing more and more frightened. But somehow, I managed to continue and keep going."
Voice 2
The situation improved when John's guards moved him to another place. There, he met Brian Keenan. John continued:
Voice 4
"We spent days talking to each other. We found that we could make each other laugh! I think this was very important as time went on. We understood how being alone had affected us. We had gone to the edge of our being - trying to discover who we were and if we could survive this situation."
Voice 2
After four years as a hostage, Brian was released in 1990. John remained a prisoner until the following year.
Voice 1
Terry Waite was alone for four out of nearly five years as a hostage. He had a particularly difficult experience. He remembers:
Voice 5
"The first year was one of extreme worry. My guards often questioned me about what I knew about a particular political matter. But this period of questioning ended one day when they made me believe that they were going to execute me. My way of dealing with it was to try and take a deep look into my heart - to explore. To try and know myself better - the light and the dark side."
Voice 1
Terry had a deep faith in God. This helped him to survive in such a lonely and dark situation. Also, he could hear hostages in the room next to his. And he developed a system of communicating with them by making sounds on the wall. Later, guards put Terry in the same room as these other prisoners. He was there until his release in November 1991.
Voice 2
For Jill Morrell, the release of the hostages was just what she had been hoping for. Yet it was not an easy time for any of them. Jill remembers:
Voice 3
"What John and I both wanted more than anything was for things to return to normal - or what we remembered as normal. But that was just not possible. And it was very difficult to deal with the effects of that."
Voice 2
Some time later, Jill and John ended their relationship. However, they still remain friends - as do all of the ex-hostages.
Voice 1
The programme presenter turns to each of the people in the studio: "Brian Keenan, Terry Waite, John McCarthy, Jill Morrell - thank you all very much." Music starts up again - and the recording comes to an end. But for these four people, the story continues. And the understanding and care they have for each other will never disappear.
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