The Implementor
Let's be honest - Our implementors' answers
Two more weeks before Team Kosovo heads back home on the first of June. Selina, Hien, Iris, Lina and Quincy have been helping creating a mobile health care center for the rural areas of this country by doing research, investigating successful mobile hospitals in other countries and interviewing pregnant women and medical staff from Kosovo. Team Kosovo is happy because they are finally ending their job, but they are also sad that they have to leave the country they have been living for two whole months and come back to normality. We interviewed Hien, Selina and Iris via Skype on the 13th of May. On the same day, Lina and Quincy sent us some answers to other different questions that we asked via WhatsApp because they couldn’t join the call.
PART 1: INTERVIEW WITH SELINA, HIEN AND IRIS
You have stayed in Kosovo almost two months. What has been the best part of your stay there?
Selina: I think meeting all the people like the women we interviewed, the doctors and nurses. And learning more about the entire situation, their choices, the culture, everyone here is warm and open and they just want to help us help them.
Hien: Experiencing real field work. The interviews and focus groups were really nice and professional. I think that's a real good experience for us to learn from.
Iris: You can really work on yourself, the only thing you have to do here is the project work and the rest is all fun, I don't have my work here at the supermarket and all the other responsibilities. It is also nice to be here meet a lot of new people.
And the worst part?
Selina: There haven't been a lot of those parts, to be honest.
Iris: Yes, I don’t think there has been a lot of part. The incident with the translator would be the worst thing. We had a really important interview and we would have to travel for a long period of time to see and speak to a lot of women and at the last minute, in the morning itself, we found out the translator couldn’t go anymore. We decided to go anyways, it was a little bit stressful but some of the people there had a good level of English and could translate for us.
What was the most surprising thing about Kosovo?
Selina: Kosovo attitude, they are so open to people from another country and also they answer very personal questions without shying away. At the end of interviews and meetings, the women and the doctors are just hugging us because they were so happy that we were here.
Hien: There is still a lot of stereotypical thinking when it comes to women and men as well as gender roles. Women are viewed in a very traditional way here and I feel like you can really experience the inequality and power dynamics between man and women, for example, there is a lot of sexism happening on the streets: as a woman you often times get catcalled and it is seen as something completely normal here.
Iris:I thought it was like the rest of Europe, if that makes sense. They are still traditional here in terms of men and women, differences between them, how they treat each other and all that. Also, I guess a lot of things are organized for the youth here: there's a cinema that it's relative cheap and where they show really good movies.
How do you see Kosovo in 20 years?
Selina:They are very open to progress in general because everybody we asked they were like: “yeah, we want it better and discuss”. They are very motivated to make something nice.
Hien: There will be much more progress, because I think they are very determined to a make a good change.
Iris: I think Kosovo is really getting there and improving a lot of things and there are also a lot of organizations like AMC (Actions for Mothers and Children) which has done a lot of great changes in the last years. So yeah, I'm sure they will improve a lot.
PART 2: INTERVIEW WITH LINA AND QUINCY
What is the biggest assumption/misconception people make about the project/the country? And what is different?
Lina: I think when people think of Kosovo they think of a dangerous and war-torn country but the reality looks very different. People here are very young who want to make a change with the same wishes for their lives as we have as well. The people here are super friendly, welcoming and curious about who we are and what we are doing here.
Quincy: That Kosovo is dangerous or destroyed during war. Of course the war is still very present in people’s minds and in everything, but it never appeared to be the main feeli
What is like to be in the shoes of the person you try to help?
Lina: If I were to be pregnant I would not like it to be in Kosovo. I would probably travel to a different country to deliver my baby. But unfortunately not everyone is in such a privileged situation.
Quincy: I don’t think I can come anywhere close to their feelings in my imagination, but I can only imagine that it must be very frustrating and saddening that there is a possibility of you and your baby not being healthy enough, just because you were unlucky enough to not have the means to travel to a hospital.
What has been your biggest mistake so far?
Lina: I try not to regret the decisions I make.
Quincy: I don’t think there were any big mistakes made. Also every small mistake you make can be seen as fun and an opportunity to learn. What I’ve learned from the people here is that I can spend more energy in helping other people, without any expectations of receiving something in return.
How would you paint your ideal world?
Lina: Regarding the project I wish that all women here could have the best and equal access to healthcare services.
Quincy: Overall I wish everybody would try their best to help everyone else and let everybody be exactly who they want to be. In regards to the project I wish that women everywhere in Kosovo all have the same easy access good maternal care. This can be done through independent initiatives, but I also think the government should take its responsibility in it.
ng of people. The people of Kosovo are the most kind and helpful people I’ve ever met and Prishtina (the capital where we spend most of our time) is very young and vibrant, with lots of individuals that want to make a change.