Family 2, F. street
-Household...
We have lived in M.-village close to Gj. I don't know the history of the village because I was born in Prizren. Anyway, I heard that we had a very good life, will lots of land and all the good things. We are three brothers and at one time we used to live together but because of some family problems we had to split up. My oldest brother and I live in this house together, whereas the youngest brother lives in another house together with my parents. We came to Prizren 50 years ago.

-Emotions...
Throughout my life I have undergone good things and bad things, too. I used to have a lot of money and all the best because I used to work in Z.. Before the war, I had a good job, but after the war difficult times came for me. My economic situation is so bad now that I can hardly earn for the elementary groceries, for the bread to feed my children. I have three children, two daughters and a son, for whom I feel sorry, as I cannot realize even their minimal wishes.

-Family...
We are five members in my family, my wife, my three children and me. We don't lead a normal life because of the very bad financial conditions. Nevertheless, despite the difficult conditions I have, I thank God for giving me good and healthy children.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
If I had good material possibilities I would have never left this house, because I was born here, I was grown up here and it was here when I took the first steps as a child.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
There would be for sure big changes such as in the economic, cultural life etc.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
My wish would be to have better financial conditions.

-Your message about historical monuments…
My message is: “To preserve historic monuments and the state authorities should ensure high punishment on those who try to ruin them.”

Family 3, F. street
-Household...
I don't know much about this house, because my father in law used to live here before. The best thing about this house is that I have found shelter here for my children and me and the worst is that this house is in a very bad condition, it is falling down - we are only waiting when it will collide. In the past, this house house was Austro-Hungarian consulate, then a prison and later on it was converted into hospital for conatgiour diseases.

-Emotions...
What binds me with this house is the fact that I have found shelter here just for me and for our children and it is a very quite place for living.

-Family...
We are six members in this house: my wife, my four children and me. I've got two daughters and two sons. All of my children are very young, they have not finished the elementary school yet, apart from my oldest son who is now in the ninth class. As for the family relationships, I can say we have good relations with no problems, but our concern is that all of us have only one room which functions as a living-room, as a kitchen and a bedroom, because we have nowhere else to go to. Only my husband is working and he earns just for keeping us alive, as we don’t have anybody living in aborad countries. We have not been offered any humanitarian or social assistance till now.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would leave it if somebody offers a big amount of money, enough to buy a house with better living conditions than the room we have.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
I would have asked to have our own house and better material conditions.

-Your message about historical monuments…
The historic monuments, which belong to the ancient town of Prizren, must be preserved at all costs and the state authorities must punish those who want to ruin them.
My last demand for the experts is if possible to help us soever. We hope and expect only from you, whatever help it is, even if it is very small.

Family 4, F. street
-Household...
Previously in this house, there used to live somebody from Z. and now he lives in another house given by the local authorities. We came to live here just after he left, as we had nowhere else to go. It is already 23 years we are living here. We have been told that the Austrians built the house after World War II and it used to be Austrian consulate. Later in the time of S., it was used as a prison and after it was converted into a hospital for contagious diseases and finally as a shelter for families. The best thing I have experienced is that I have found shelter here, the worst is that the house is getting very old and it is falling down.

-Emotions...
What binds me with this house is that it is shelter here for me and for my children - my children were born, grown-up and have been educated here. The worst thing which has happened to me is I have sufferred three heart attacks here.

-Family...
We are four family members in this family living here - my wife, my son who is now in the ninth class and my daughter who is in the sixth class. I work in the hygiene department even though doctors have told me that I am unable to work, but I must work anyway. As for the family relationship we have got very good relations, but when we have no money it is very difficult because we cannot pay. I have a son abroad, but I don’t have any other personal incomes or any other kind of help.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
If somebody would offer me another house with better conditions or a big amount of money, I would have left this house immediately.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
There would be changes after 10 years, of course. The children would grow-up, get married, have children and the house would have been changed perhaps.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
I would have asked for a safer house than mine, as well as medical care for me and my wife.

-Your message about historical monuments…
They should be protected not only by the state authorities, but also by the citizens of Prizren themselves.

Family 5, G. Street
-Household...
We are an albanian family from Montenegro. We live in this house for 7 years, where the owner that lives in X (abroad) has give us the opportunity to live without paying the rent. The house is very old, it isn’t renovated and it has three big rooms...
This house has a very old and interesting history. The unsuccessful attempt on the assassination of the great activist for national issues Bajram Curri, occurred here, who by that time was livng in this house on rent. The bullets holes can still be noticed on the wall of the room where the assassination took place.

-Emotions...
What binds me with this house is the good memory that the house offered shelter for us in the time we were penniless, in the time when Kosova was under Serbian occupation and right in the time when we lost our hopes. We didn’t have money for rent in that time. Anyway, two years later our family suffered the hardest tragedy - our son died at the age of 12. The dream of the family is to have our own house. If I could talk with my house in the beginning I would express my acknowledgement to it because it has offered shelter for us in the moment we were in need…

-Family...
We are four members in our family (my wife, two children and me). We have good relationship in the family, where dominates a harmonic atmosphere. I’m employed and earn 130 € per month.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would leave my house if I could buy a new apartment.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
Nothing would have changed. Instead of improving they would have gone towards destruction.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
I would ask from him to build me a house with swimming pool and have my own harem…!!! (He said this by laughing)

-Your message about historical monuments…
My message to the experts is to preserve the historical values and by no way to ruin the old houses, on the contrary they should renovate them. The reason I said this, is the fact that this old houses present the history of the city.

Family 6. A Street
-Household...
The house is built later, burned but adopted for living. It has four rooms from which two of them are adopted for living. The owner of the house is a serbian who deserted Kosova and went to Serbia. We came from H. and live int his house now. Our own house was burned by the military and paramilitary forces including everything we had in there.

-Emotions...
We feel good in this house for the reason that we have found shelter after the war (this house was burned and not renovated yet).
The dream of our family is to live in Prizren, in the neighbourhood where we are living for the moment.

-Family...
Relations in our three members family (my wife, my son and me) are quite good. The problems that are we facing is the money and the ownership issue.
Nobody of us is employed, which means that we have no personal incomes and we do not receive any social assistance. For this reason my son (youngest member of the family) has to work sometimes as a loader for the daily bread.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
We wouldn’t leave the house under no condition.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
I would built here a nice club and decorate the house very nicely. I would marry my son and my house would be full of grandchildren.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
From the magician I would have asked for a house that would be our property.

-Your message about historical monuments…
…
Family 7, H Street
-Household...
We live in this new and unfinished house, it has five rooms, where only three of them are adapted for residence. I have bought this house 35 years ago from a noble albanian family.

-Emotions...
What binds me with this house are just positive and good things. The happiest thing was the birth of our first child.

-Family...
There are five members in our family. The inter-family relationships are very good. Only one of them is employed and earns 150 € per month.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
With that money I would have bought a very very big house with a big shop in the first floor (supermarket).

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
I hope that the institutions will build the infrastructure in the old part of the city. I hope there won’t be any problems with electricity after 10 years etc, etc, etc…

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
To have a very big and very beautiful residence where my family and I could live.

-Your message about historical monuments…
My wish is to destroy the old and unhabited houses and build new houses instead, where people could live.

Family 8, G Street
-Household...
The conditions in the house are good, in which we have three rooms. In the first floor there is club that is situated in a crossroad with five directions (mahallas). This house is the property of an albanian. In 1962 our serbian neighbour occupied a part of the house. But, after the war the serbian owner gave back the property taken by force.
This house is of great historical importance, as in 1992 the first parliamentary and presidential elections within the comunity were held in here. During April 1999 our family was deported to Albania by the military and paramilitary forces. The house has been demolished and totally robbed by the local serbians who lived in Prizren at that time.

-Emotions...
Sometimes I talk with my house, saying, “I hope I will knock you down and will build on you a bigger and more beautiful house.”

-Family...
There are eight members in our family. Only one of them is employed with incomes of 93 € per month. But our family runs a small business in the club mentioned above.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would leave my house if I could buy a new apartment.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
I believe and I hope everything would come into a right place in the future. The institutions will repair the infrastructure and renovate the old houses, as well as preserve the historic values of the city of Prizren.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
My wish is that overnight he would build me a big house with a beautiful garden with a lot of flowers.

-Your message about historical monuments…
The relevant institutions of the present time should take care for the building and the reconstruction of the burnt houses, old houses, and houses with historical values, and for the other houses, too.

Family 9, G. Street
-Household...
The origin of this house dates back in the second half of 19th century, and it was renovated 30 years ago. The house is situated in a very crowded neighbourhood where the houses are built closely to each other. The house is 160 m2, has three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dinning room, the bathroom and the cellar. There is a hall in the middle and the rooms around it. The walls are coloured in white and you can see cracks because of the earthquake and the war of 1998.
A very old citizen family used to live in this house. The owner of the house was S.(interviewee – grandson of the late). As the material was very old, it was always necessary to repair the house. The style of the house is oriental.

-Emotions...
The best thing we have experienced while living in the big family are the celebrations as we always used to get presents. The employment and the first salary were the greatest happiness because I could contribute to my family. Also a very good event was the marriage and the birth of my children.
Whereas, the worst and the most touching event was my grandfathers and parents death.
Now we are eight members in the family, and we have extraordinarily relations. Only my brother is employed as I work temporarily when there is any work to do.
The love with the closed ones binds me with this house. I love my house especially when I think that there are many people without a roof on their head. Only the need for existence would force me to leave the house, which is to find work somewhere else to keep the family alive.
Do I talk with a house? Everybody could talk to it, because there are the emotions, memories, the good and bad things you had experienced in this house: “If I could only turn back to my childhood and to run through the halls and rooms!!!”

-Family...
My father, mother, four children, grandmother and the aunt used to live by that time. Only my father used to work for about 15-16 hours a day to keep the family alive.
Life standard increased with the employment of the children and this influenced directly in the stabilization of the life style. In this way the longevity of parents increased and the diseases decreased.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would live my house if I could buy a new one apartment.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
After 10 years somebody would be missing from the family as a result of the old age, different diseases, etc.

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
Work, freedom, the power of law, justice!

-Your message about historical monuments…
My message would be to employ the people who have no house, in this way they would find shelter.
Also if there is employment the urban system of the city would be repaired. I think it would be better if Prizren would be reconstructed according to the normal standards of people. Every improving change, the decoration of the city depends on the economical basis and the people of good politics who wish to make progress on this people.
I hope Prizren would have a better look matching the European standards.

Family 10, X Street
-Household...
First owners of this house unfortunately didn’t have successor. When they got old, they donated the house to the church. I bought this house 40 years ago. I live with my wife and four children (two of my children are handicapped).

-Emotions...
There is no good event that I can remember. As we couldn’t find any recovery for both handicapped children, they passed away, first the daughter and then the son. Whereas, two other children got married. After the death of my two children my wife died, too, after a very hard disease. Meanwhile I got blind because of the diabetes and now I am almost totally blind.
Because I have never had any happy moments, nothing binds me to this house and I often say: "Damn you that made my life a hell, if I could somehow to loose you forever…”

-Family...
The house was old enough, without hygiene conditions and then it was necessary to build a toilet to facilitate the wife’s care for the sick children. Whenever I step these stairs they remind me of very sad moments of my wife, caring the children up and down and taking care for them even though she was ill. I used to work as a silversmith and I did my best to help her. Now in this house I live with my son’s family. We don’t have very good relationships, but my grandsons are very lovely with me. I get a very small assistance of 28 €.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would live my house if I could buy a new one.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
The only wish I have is to see again.

-Your message about historical monuments…
My message to the experts and institutions would be to renovate all houses in their old style.

Family 11, X Street
-Household...
We live in this old house with many members (six brothers and one sister). Because of the bad economical situation all of them have migrated. Only brother A. remains here. With the improvement of the economical situation the house gets renovated and fits to the life conditions of the time.

-Emotions...
The happiness of this house was the birth of the daughter and the son who had a good childhood while the parties went on. The girl gets married and grandchildren came. But there happened a distress, the owner (father) of the house A. dies.

he world, there will be always somebody who will have a lot of money and somebody who has none. I think there will be lots of new houses and new buildings but I hope that the old neighbourhood will always preserve its antiquity. The future of the family, which means the future of my grandchildren will be good only and only if we have money.
-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…

The son gets married, and because of the bad economical and war situation that was threatening Kosova he migrates also. Now I live with my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. What bind me to this house are happy memories in the past with my husband.

-Family...
We are very old family from Prizren. The family has always been joyful and we have cultivated old folkloric music. We have inspired the entire neighbourhood and with their initiative we formed a small orchestra and we were well known in all Kosova and Albanian diaspora. As refreshment for the family was the marriage of the owner with a beautiful and lovely girl, who used to invite and offer sweets to the neighbours and their children in the parties, which they held in their house.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would never leave this house even though our economical situation is not good with a social assistance of 28 € per month. Even being operated from the heart, I hope still for better future.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…

-Your message about historical monuments…
…

Family 12, X Street
-Household...
We emigrated in the second half of the 19th century. We bought the house that was build 200 years ago from an albanian family. The conditions of the house today are very bad for living. The roof leaks and the walls are being demolished.

-Emotions...
A good event for me was the time when the house was full of joy with a lot of family members, but I didn’t give up yet with my hopes for a better future. Sometimes I talk with my house, saying: “You are very old now, if I could only make you young again.”

-Family...
In the beginning it was very good. The husband used to work in a bank and the house was full of children (three sons and two daughters). Because of the war in Balkans the children migrate whereas the husband unfortunately gets missing and nobody knows anything about him. In this house now I live with my son and my daughter-in-law who is mentally ill but fortunately three children of them are healthy. I get a small assistance of 28 € and my sons who live abroad rarely send any money.

-Would you move from your house, if you were offered a big amount of money…
I would have left the house if I had the possibility to buy a new flat.

-What changes would happen in Kosova if we would meet after10 years…
…

-If the magician would realize a wish of yours, what would it be…
My wish is to be healthy in this old age, better living conditions and bigger pension.

-Your message about historical monuments…
The adaptation and reconstruction of the houses, to preserve the outside part, as well as their internal side to fit the conditions of today’s life.

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