Films with a Vision
Fabian Büecheler, our Assistant Hospitality Manager, gave us the following recommendations:
Lotty Wolvekamp lives in the Netherlands. A few nights ago a friend asked her how she managed not to get depressed in the current crisis. So she took her computer, with her dog, Donna, asleep in the chair beside her, and wrote the following blog.
"Always look on the bright side of life’ – yes, that might be true for normal life. But life at this stage is anything but normal.
Of course there are moments when it hits me, especially as I am alone in my apartment. And I’ll be happy when we are 10 days further on and someone, who probably had the virus, has not infected me. I am human!
In recent days there were so many people who needed reassurance, comfort, encouragement; so many myths to puncture. I have just put up a notice in our building to ensure that people avoid getting into the lift together and to make sure they keep a distance between them. Nobody else seems to think of these things, except our cleaner Xavier. With true Spanish pride he told me how he specially disinfects things. Wonderful!
Today I talked with and heard about four families, whose members had all probably picked up the virus (no more testing is taking place) and were truly ill…. All are recovering.
A family member, who hardly ever phones, contacted me to say that he had called the uncle and aunts. Everything was OK. ‘And all is well with you too, he?’
A few days ago I visited a friend who recently turned 100. The place where she lives was locking down that afternoon. No more access. That feels strange. Due to deafness she cannot communicate by phone. And she cannot write as her hands don’t want to. We said to each other: ‘We will meet again, here or elsewhere. God is holding on to us.’ Both fully at peace and given… but with a big lump in my throat.
I then ordered a small freezer online for another friend, aged 84, so I can provide her with some meals, just in case….
During my walk with Donna today, I thought of a way to see my 100-year-old friend: she lives on the first floor and looks down on a field. Donna and I can stand there and wave to her at a prearranged time. That way she knows we are close to her. (PS: it worked beautifully!!)
Yes, many more people will fall ill. And it is quite possible that some who are dear to us will die.
Everything we know is topsy-turvy and this is only the beginning. In the coming weeks, nothing will be self-evident: something most people have never been confronted with.
I had to think back to my time during the dictatorship in Argentina, my visits to refugee camps in Thailand and to favelas in Brazil and Kenya.
They were short of everything, including water and electricity. The fight was against a visible enemy.
We are now fighting an invisible enemy. But most of all against ourselves so as not to allow the perplexity, panic and fear, which are just around the corner, to overwhelm us.
The paradox is spring bursting forth: flowers and blossom dazzle you. The birds are singing their loudest song.
Hidden behind all doubt and disquiet in our lives is a deep well of trust and wisdom: in you, in me, in everyone.
Possibly our biggest challenge now is to free that well and let living water flow forth.
Younger friends phone me, wanting to be sure I am well. ‘I’m here for you if you need me!’ Absolutely heartwarming.
One felt so guilty she wasn’t doing more. But her work is crucial to a large group of people. Doing that work well is now her first responsibility.
That is something we can do: to be there for each other. And those who have a faith: let it speak in a way that is their own, real and deep."
Lotty Wolvekamp, 20 March 2020
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Maya Fiaux has been actively working for Initiatives of Change for many years and lives with her husband Jean near Lausanne, Switzerland. The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all ...
Elsa Vogel (94) lives in the United Kingdom and has been part of IofC for many decades, working and living extensively in South Amercia. The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover how COVID-19 has changed her daily life and which lessons she has been drawing from this experience.
What is your current situation? How is the spread of Covid-19 impacting you?
I am totally isolated in my flat which is located in a building for retired people who are still able to go on living independently.
Now all gatherings have been banned, we have to stay in our own flats. We can go out for food, to the pharmacy and for exercise which I do every morning.
Describe in 3 words how you are feeling now.
I feel at peace now but a few days ago I was very rebellious about all the rules and impositions. Calm and peace have come back as I understand the seriousness of the situation as I had to understand it during the Second World War under the Nazi occupation for 5 years. Also, I am so grateful that I have come out of the situation alive.
I feel fine right now and so touched by all the messages, from Latin America especially where my husband and I spent 40 years with the work of IofC.
What is your biggest challenge at the moment?
Not to see my friends and talk with them, especially the ones in the building. We were just beginning to be good friends with some new people who have moved in and to see together how we could help our community to live these days of uncertainly with a great sense of peace - especially to let go feelings that sometimes come between people of different classes and different races.
What are the lessons you have already learned from this time?
One important lesson has been to decide not to blame or criticise our government, of which I am not a fan especially as they have taken us out of Europe. Now I see that they do have an enormous task to grapple with and they need my support and my care.
Do you practice quiet times? If so, what is your practice and how does it help you?
Yes, I do, since I met MRA/ IofC in 1945 and it has been like a rock to keep the purpose of my life flowing from my mind and my heart. Also it helps receive the correction I need so badly. What I do to practice is, first every morning, I keep one hour to meditate. Some part of it is to pray for different friends and some for the countries of the world which are suffering so much.
The rest of the time is to listen to God’s whisper. Some can bring real inspiration, other whispers are to apologize to other people or simple correction.
What are your best trick and tips to fight anxiety, uncertainty and loneliness?
I must be honest: I do not feel anxious or lonely. Naturally I miss my husband as it was a joy to have a companion with whom you can speak about many things. About uncertainty - I don’t know what to say really. What I have learned during the War is that nobody knew when it would end. The important thing we learned was to go on caring and backing the Resistance forces and also go on caring for the Jewish families. Suddenly at night, the young children or parents were taken by the Gestapo and sent to the Death Camps.
As a Girl Guide Leader some of my girls were from Jewish families and suffered very painful times. For instance, two sisters had their father, who was a medical doctor, taken one night and, until today, they have never heard where he was taken or whether he has died. The one thing somebody told them was that he may have been sent to the Gulag in Siberia to be a doctor there. But they didn’t know if he was still alive or if he was killed. It is quite a thing to bear.
And now here, at this moment, we don’t know how long this pandemic will go on. We just need to continue caring for each other in the best way we can.
How can we connect with others and support them when we have to barricade ourselves in?
Well, for those who have WhatsApp, computer and smart phone, these are a great help and I am grateful to have all of them. Also, in my building, I meet some of my neighbours when I walk into the corridor and it is a chance to give a smile, a warm hello and ask them how they are doing.
What made you laugh today?
Today there was nothing that especially made me laugh but let me tell you about Thursday evening. It was decided that the whole of Britain would go out into their garden, on the balcony or at their window to clap very loudly to thank the NHS service for the marvellous work they are doing. I laughed with joy to hear all that clapping but it was also for me a very deep and moving moment to see the whole nation being united in that way after so many divisions these last three years.
How would you like to emerge from this crisis?
I would like to emerge a totally different person - one who knows what the important things are that I should keep and which I should drop. I also need to become a much more patient person. The main thing I hope to learn is a love and care for people which has nothing to do with duty, and even for some who are difficult to love. As a woman of faith, I always feel my duty is to care but I want to experience something much deeper which happens in my heart and radiates all round. And I want to find new feelings for people who I may find difficult to love.
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful for a very loving Divine Father who revealed himself to me when I was fifteen at a time when I was very hurt and rebellious about my dysfunctional family. It was a real gift. And I was very grateful to have met MRA/IofC at the age of 19. I learned the philosophy of listening to the inner voice in your heart and took seriously, with difficulty at times, the challenge of absolute moral standards as a guide.
But then I would like to tell you more. When I was a student in Paris and during the struggle for the liberation of Paris from Nazi occupation, I could not go home and I stayed with a friend’s family. After 3 days without food – just a potato each – my friend and I were in a queue outside hoping to get some vegetables. They never arrived but what came was a little Volkswagen with two Nazi soldiers. One soldier got out and attacked the whole queue with a machine gun. My friend and I were the last ones in the queue. And when the solider pointed the machine gun at us, there were no more bullets. Amazing to be alive! We were the only ones left standing. So, you will understand that I often have an immense surge of gratitude in my heart to be alive today at nearly 95.
The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover our interview with Andrew Stallybrass (UK/Switzerland) on how he experiences the current si...
Our team together with the international IofC Network is working hard to give you an online 2020 Caux Forum, trying to get you as close as possible to the “Caux experience”. Although we will not be ab...
Dana Salama is 24 years old and lives in Syria. She was part of the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme and had just started a new job when the COVID-19 crises began. The COVID-19 crisis is a global c...
The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover our interview series how they experience the current situation and which lessons they are d...
Lotty Wolvekamp lives in the Netherlands. A few nights ago a friend asked her how she managed not to get depressed in the current crisis. So she took her computer, with her dog, Donna, asleep in the c...
"By now we are in the second week of staying at home as much as possible. Isn't this also a good moment for us to reflect and think about what we can do differently from now on? " Elly Stigter has bee...
The COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown in many countries around the globe is taking its toll on all of us. In an attempt to help people connect and encourage each other we hosted a live Quiet Time event...
Maya Fiaux has been actively working for Initiatives of Change for many years and lives with her husband Jean near Lausanne, Switzerland. The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all ...
The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover our interview series how they experience the current situation and which lessons they are drawing from their time in lockdown. Maya Fiaux has been actively working for Initiatives of Change for many years and lives with her husband Jean near Lausanne, Switzerland.
What is your current situation? How is the spread of COVID-19 impacting you?
My husband Jean and I, both well over 70 y.o., live the imposed confinement without any major difficulties. We are lucky to receive all the support we need, we receive and make plenty of phone calls and messages and we enjoy to have more time for reading, writing and many other things. But at the same time we are aware of the dangerous situation of so many other people all around the world who are in great need and incredible suffering.
Describe in 3 words how you are feeling right now?
In three words right now I feel grateful, concerned and confident.
What is your biggest challenge at the moment?
My biggest challenge is to discern what is essential and to use enough time for this.
What are the lessons you have already learned from this time?
I am learning many new things, for instance:
Do you practise quiet time? If yes: what is your practice and how does it help you?
Quiet time is what I consider as essential in life and in particular now: First thing in the morning having prepared a hot drink, Jean and I take about 30 - 60 minutes for reading inspiring texts (e.g. in the Bible), writing thoughts down on paper and share some of them with Jean. It connects me with my inner voice and makes space for the presence of God. It gives me inner peace and it helps me to discover what is essential for the day.
What are your best tips and tricks to fight anxiety/loneliness/uncertainty (whichever you struggle most with)?
In order to fight uncertainty I use prayer. This is for me the best way to trust that there is a future we can look forward to.
How can we connect with others and support them when we have to barricade ourselves?
In order to connect with others I use phone calls to lonely friends, e-mails or postal messages for expressing gratitude, care, love, etc.
What made you laugh today?
Today I had a good laugh when I was on the phone with an old friend, who has known Jean and myself for a many years. At the end of a long call she warned me jokingly against the risk of the growing domestic violence which was mentioned on the news last night. (Those who know Jean can see the joke even if the subject is unfortunately a very sad reality in our society!)
How would you (as a person) like to emerge from this crisis?
I wish to become more aware of what is rally essential in life and of what is going on inside other people, in order to become more sensitive to their needs.
What are you grateful for?
I am grateful for
The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover our interview with Andrew Stallybrass (UK/Switzerland) on how he experiences the current si...
Our team together with the international IofC Network is working hard to give you an online 2020 Caux Forum, trying to get you as close as possible to the “Caux experience”. Although we will not be ab...
Dana Salama is 24 years old and lives in Syria. She was part of the Caux Peace and Leadership Programme and had just started a new job when the COVID-19 crises began. The COVID-19 crisis is a global c...
The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all over the world and all walks of life. Discover our interview series how they experience the current situation and which lessons they are d...
Elsa Vogel (94) lives in the United Kingdom and has been part of IofC for many decades, working and living extensively in South Amercia. The COVID-19 crisis is a global challenge for people from all o...
Lotty Wolvekamp lives in the Netherlands. A few nights ago a friend asked her how she managed not to get depressed in the current crisis. So she took her computer, with her dog, Donna, asleep in the c...
"By now we are in the second week of staying at home as much as possible. Isn't this also a good moment for us to reflect and think about what we can do differently from now on? " Elly Stigter has bee...
The COVID-19 crisis and the lockdown in many countries around the globe is taking its toll on all of us. In an attempt to help people connect and encourage each other we hosted a live Quiet Time event...
