Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

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