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 />
Yes, the UCK… they have beaten me too… I could not talk anymore…<br />
It happened the same to my father… I don’t know what to say, I don’t<br />
remember anything… the only thing I know is they have treated us<br />
badly… the Albanians came during the night and we had to escape…<br />
[Arta]<br />
Psychological and physical suffering merge together in the body and in the<br />
narration, and the body itself becomes a sort of memory, bearing the traces<br />
of past experience. Women and men thus referred to their bodies in order<br />
to stress the traumatic consequences of the violence they had witnessed:<br />
He says that his wife has got heart problems and she still feels sick… she<br />
has this sickness because of the trauma she went through… [Rexhi]<br />
In my nephew’s house… my son’s son… a woman with a UCK uniform<br />
came in and before taking away the things… they scared that man so that<br />
he couldn’t stop them… they put a gun under his throat to scare<br />
him…since I saw it I have had heart problems… now she has this sickness…<br />
because she saw that scene… [Blerta]<br />
Lytfi, a Rom who left Kosovo and went to Montenegro when the conflict<br />
between Albanians and Serbs became more violent, said:<br />
Perhaps it is better not to talk about it [the conflict]… it is a theme that<br />
makes me feel sick… because they have killed all these people… don’t<br />
ask me about that… it is better if I don’t remember it… I cannot speak<br />
anymore.<br />
As in his case, the body can be used to indicate suffering, even when it has<br />
not been directly wounded or hurt: It can therefore also be a means for<br />
physically expelling the pain that words cannot express.<br />
Throughout the stories told during the interviews, it seemed that violent<br />
events were more difficult to face when, according to their survivors, the<br />
conflicts were unexpected:<br />
Arta: Before, we had a good relationship with the [Albanians]…<br />
yes, before yes… we played together, we worked together,<br />
we got on well with them… also at the wedding parties: we<br />
had our weddings and also the Albanians came… afterwards<br />
everything changed…<br />
Question: Suddenly?<br />
Arta: Yes, suddenly…<br />
In her testimony, Arta mentioned two of the most important rituals of<br />
Roma culture: wedding celebrations and funerals. In order to stress that the<br />
Romany and Albanians once lived together peacefully, Arta referred to different<br />
aspects of daily life, drawing attention to play, work and marriages.<br />
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