Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
The place assigned to us for the interviews was the large room typically<br />
used by the police in dealing with the legal details of the immigrants’ stay.<br />
The office had a cold feel to it, with standard tables, grey cabinets and a<br />
small bathroom which policemen could enter and exit without asking permission,<br />
without warning. I recorded part of the interviews there, as we<br />
could not convince the authorities to allow us a more suitable place. We<br />
were, however, able to record the last interview in the dining room.<br />
The only conversation held in a different context, outside the centre, was<br />
with our translator’s father, who cheerfully agreed to be interviewed. In<br />
this case, the atmosphere was exceptional. I knew the kitchen where we sat<br />
to talk, as only two days had passed since our translator had invited me to<br />
her house in order to review the first part of the interviews. Though their<br />
house was small and crowded at the time, with the translator’s mother and<br />
father, as well as her daughter and a cousin, the courtesy they showed me<br />
was unforgettable.<br />
The work of Ada Prizreni, a resident of Lecce and our Albanian interpreter,<br />
was of prime importance to the project, to the point that it influenced the<br />
selection of the methodology used. A 30-year-old with a degree in Italian<br />
language, Ada has lived in Lecce, Italy for the last ten years.<br />
Professionally, she is an interpreter and translator, and has worked on several<br />
research projects conducted by the sociology department at the<br />
University of Lecce. The last of these was entitled, Immigrants or<br />
Citizens? War Refugees and Peace Refugees in Salento; Between<br />
Expectations and Reality. The results of this study were obtained using a<br />
participant-observation method and collected at the Regina Pacis centre.<br />
Ada Prizreni therefore already knew a lot about the situation of Regina<br />
Pacis and its residents. Near the time of the work presented in this paper,<br />
she was working as a full-time researcher with a UNESCO project investigating<br />
the situation of immigrants in Salento. A great part of this research<br />
also dealt with what went on in Regina Pacis. The entirety of her prior<br />
experience allowed us to forego the phase, usually important, where potential<br />
interviewees are contacted by telephone. This was of great help to us,<br />
as primary contact with the subjects had already been made. Her work also<br />
helped us enter the centre, as did the mayhem created by the continuous<br />
arrival of new refugees. I therefore feel it appropriate to emphasize the<br />
importance of Ada Prizreni to our research.<br />
Finally, but still of great importance, was the mediation of Don Cesare<br />
Lodoseto, the priest responsible for Regina Pacis. Always dressed in an<br />
explorer’s waist-length jacket, Don Cesare is a man of great presence and<br />
few words. Though his communication was almost entirely limited to his<br />
steady gaze, magnified by enormous glasses, it would have been imposs-<br />
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