Indiana University School of Journalism

I have learned a great deal more about what it means to live the European way of life and how that has changed in recent decades. The world is shrinking in terms of the continual merging of cultures and interactions between nations. The growth of the European Union speaks to this idea that we are all interconnected.

I had worried that a documentary about happenings in another country might raise the question to some in the U.S, ‘why should I care and how is this related to me?’ After all, relevancy is one of the characteristics in deciding if a subject is newsworthy. However, I found the information from scholars I interviewed, as well as the stories of the caregivers and families, are related to a host of scenarios common in the U.S.

The migration of foreign workers to Italy looking for a better way to financially provide for their families has a recognizable parallel in American society. The same reason Eastern Europeans are now flocking to Italy is the same reason that many families, including my own Italian family, came to the U.S. Doing what is necessary to financially provide for ones’ family is resonates not only for Americans but for many around the globe.

What to do with elderly parents and young children when the middle aged are unable to care for them because they’re working is also a universal concern. Italy relies much less on nursing homes and nursery schools than American society, but nonetheless millions of families must deal with these circumstances and the choices that accompany them.

There are many angles that could be taken in presenting this documentary, and I am currently in the editing process, which is quite lengthy. I am going through hours’ worth of interview footage to find the best way to combine many important thoughts into a cohesive and accurate description of the phenomenon of badanti in Italy. Once that has been completed, I must translate and transcribe subtitles from the interviews.

I would like to thank the School of Journalism again for selecting me to receive the Hazeltine Travel Scholarship, and all of those interested in this documentary who have been following my blogs. As soon as the documentary is ready to be presented, there will be notification of where it may be viewed.
 

In Italy for the last 13 years, she speaks Italian with a thick Eastern European accent, but with the determination of someone who has worked hard to get where she is now. She had very little schooling growing up, but has managed to raise and provide for four sons working as a caregiver in Italy.

Alba is in her late 40s with short dark hair and a short, sturdy stature. As she explains her life to me, it is clear that it is one dedicated to helping others. While she’s made it clear that her family and (and especially her sons) are her first priority, she talks about the people she cares for as though they are a second family. She has cared for elderly people, but currently cares for a man in his early 30s who has Down syndrome. His mother has died and she explained that she’s essentially taken on a motherly role to help the man’s elderly father with the responsibility.

She spends most every day at the family’s house, preparing meals, assisting with cleaning and whatever tasks are at hand. She’s told me she not only helps the “sick” family member, but the family as a whole-which is quite large-relies on her for many things. It’s not all a one-way street, however. She has boasted of her Sicilian boss’ kindness and of his children’s willingness to help her family when they need it. For example, Alba’s husband (who’s significantly older than she), works for one of the brothers a few days a week to make extra income for their family.

Like other badanti I’ve interviewed, Alba sends some of her earnings back to her native country. Three of her sons are living in Albania. She expressed working the long hours as being a necessity to ensure her sons have a better future. She and her husband live modestly. They take the bus or ride a bike, always eat at home, and buy inexpensive clothing. She says that life is hard in Italy, but at least she feels like she’s experiencing a bit of la dolce vita. The economy in Albania, she says, doesn’t allow for a lot of fun. She says only the capital city, Tirana, has something for people to do besides eat, work and sleep.

She visits Albania a few times a year because she’s been able to obtain a carta di soggiorno (card permitting her to stay in Italy legally). Good news has come recently for other badanti from Albania. With their country set to become part of the European Union, and with the new Italian law being passed to regularize foreign badanti this month, it will be easier for them to visit their families without worrying they won’t be able to return to work because of overstayed visas and/or countless other problems that currently restrict the movement between Italy and Eastern Europe.

I have been able to experience over the last few months how Europeans live and the significant differences between everyday life here and in the U.S. I have seen why badanti and domestic workers are in such high demand in Italy. Being young and able bodied with more free time on my hands than much of the working population here (I’ve met many people who work two jobs), I am able to handle daily tasks here with relative ease. However, for those who work and in addition have elderly parents and/or children to look after, I can see how those with the means would be obliged to hire someone to help with everyday life.

For example, household chores in Italy can take up a good part of one’s day. Doing laundry is fairly time-consuming task because it is extremely uncommon for people to own dryers. Therefore, you must wait several hours for each load of laundry in the washer and then hang dry all your wet items. It can take two or three days until each batch of laundry is completely dry. Of course, if you don’t want things to be wrinkled then things must be ironed as well.

The matter of food has been another change for me. Living in the city center, as I have been, is ideal for walking everywhere, but it’s quite a task when groceries are needed. In the U.S. most people drive to the grocery store, buy their items and have them bagged for them, and easily transport everything home to their kitchens. Here, I learned quickly that it is much cheaper to get groceries away from the tourist Mecca. This requires walking to the bus stop, a 20-minute bus ride, bagging your own groceries, 20-minute bus ride back to the bus stop and then an 8-minute walk carrying all the groceries home.

Once the food is eaten, one must be ready to clean all the dishes because dishwashers are also very uncommon here! I can see the comfort in having a caregiver for elderly people who don’t have the energy to do all the tasks they used to be able to by themselves, such as the ones I’ve highlighted. However, having spent time observing the relationship between badanti and those they care for, I have noticed it is not only an association based on the convenience of having help but also of companionship.

I continue to edit my footage of the interviews I’ve conducted and all that I have seen, but strive to conduct even more interviews in order to make the documentary the best it can be. As I mentioned in my last blog, in August much of the country takes vacation and so I haven’t been able to conduct any interviews yet this month. Therefore, I have extended my stay here through late September in order to conduct more interviews. I will continue to post the latest on my thoughts and findings.
 

Courtesy photo

Hazeltine Scholar Nadia LaMantia now is in the editing phase of her project (and enjoying Italian cuisine).

Having completed the majority of interviews, I have begun editing the hours of footage. It is quite interesting what things one doesn’t notice while they’re happening, and yet, because they’re taped you’re able to see them very clearly later. For example, I hadn’t taken into account the amount of hand gestures being used by the Italians I interviewed. This might seem ironic to others, because if one were to make a list of things Italians are known for, it would probably include:

• Delicious cuisine
• Amazing artwork
• Expressive personalities

Alas, being Italian-American myself, while interviewing some of the people, I neglected to think about how these seemingly natural movements might come across on camera. Therefore, even though I spoke with very knowledgeable people, I find myself looking for pieces of interviews that are usable — without distracting gestures.

With my editing, I am also deciding what will be best for my American audience when it comes to the majority of interviews that were conducted in Italian. Should I use voice-overs or subtitles? I know this is crucial in keeping the attention of viewers. I would appreciate any ideas those reading this might have in regards to this dilemma, so please feel free to e-mail me with suggestions (nlamanti@indiana.edu).

Another interesting bump in the road that I didn’t see coming was that the month of August in Italy is one in which literally everyone goes on vacation. For 15 or 20 days, shops close, even some government offices close, and people either head to the beach or leave the country to travel. It’s not the same 15 or 20 days, either. The days overlap throughout the month so that you can’t be certain when the vacation days will be in effect for which people. I was quite perplexed by this phenomenon. How does anyone do anything here during this time? If you ask, you simply get the response, “It’s just how it is here in August. People go on holiday.”

OK, good explanation or not, I carry on. I still would like to conduct a few more interviews. The trick will be fitting them in between people’s vacation schedules. Even the foreign caregivers who have the means to take time off in August to go their respective countries. I’ve spoken to many people in looking for interviewees, and gotten responses such as, “well, you could talk to this woman, but she’s in Albania all month for vacation.”

I like a good challenge, have learned so many interesting things about this subject and remain committed to pursuing all the interviews necessary to produce a quality product. I am excited about the potential this documentary has and feel blessed every day that I was given this opportunity.

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LaMantia and Raffaella Sarti, a professor at the Università di Bologna and Università degli Studi di Urbino who is helping LaMantia understand the issues in foreign caregivers in Italy.

Some of her more recent published work includes Domestic Service as a “Bridging Occupation,” Past and Present, Come è cambiato il servizio domestico in Italia dagli anni Cinquanta ad oggi (How domestic service has changed in Italy from the fifties to today) and Servitori, domestiche, badanti. Lavoro domestico e di cura dal
Cinquecento ad oggi. Scambi e interdipendenze (Servants, maids, caregivers. Domestic work and care from the Sixteenth century to today. Exchanges and interdependence).

My interview with Sarti was the first conducted primarily in English. She discussed with me her interest in the revival of domestic service in Italy and of the peculiarities of Italian laws and attitudes when it comes to foreign caregivers in the country. She said that within the last decade there have been mixed emotions in Italy not only about immigrants coming to the country to work at the present time but what to do with all the immigrants who had been working in Italy for years as caregivers and in other service jobs.

In 2002, the right-wing government passed a law that cracked down on illegal immigration. The law raised penalties for being or employing an illegal migrant, and it was determined that entering Italy illegally more than once could lead to prison terms of up to four years. However, there were massive protests by the elderly who relied on foreign immigrants as caregivers. Many of the caregivers were in Italy illegally but Italy’s elderly population argued that the assistance of these people was crucial and they were doing good and not causing harm by being in the country.

As a result, the law provided amnesty for irregular immigrants already in Italy, which allowed the regularization of those who had worked and lived in Italy for at least three months. At that time, hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the domestic service industry were able to change their status to being legal.

However since then, the debate has continued over the presence of badanti stranieri (foreign caregivers) in Italy. Many politicians talk about cleaning up the “problem” of the excess of immigrants in Italy. However in my opinion, there seems to be an amount of hypocrisy involved in this situation. Many families disregard the law and hire caregivers who are in Italy illegally. This may be due to the fact that although the laws are in place, there is not a government entity to really carry out deportation of immigrants.

Through talking to many people here, it is my understanding that as long as the caregivers are abiding by other laws and not causing trouble, the government looks the other way in regards to their legal status. In some regions, the government also has indirectly promoted the use of caregivers, being aware that immigrant caregivers are hired more often than Italian caregivers because they don’t charge as much for their services. Instead of building nursing homes, the government will give money to the elderly for the use of care giving services.

My next goal for this documentary is to interview Italian officials about their stance on this situation.

Courtesy photo

Hazeltine scholar Nadia LaMantia, left, with interview subject, Olga, a Ukrainian working as a caregiver in Italy. LaMantia’s documentary project looks at how caregivers from other countries are changing some aspects of Italian culture.

The first caregiver I spoke with was in the town of Cesena. Olga, from Ukraine, was every bit as energetic as she sounded on the phone prior to meeting. Don’t let the picture fool you as to her demeanor; I have learned that people from Eastern Europe are sometimes unaccustomed to smiling for photos.

She spoke candidly to me at a park in Cesena, which is frequented by scores of other immigrants from Eastern Europe. Olga said that many of them also work as caregivers or have other domestic service jobs.

In the interview, Olga revealed to me that the term "caregiver," or “badanti” in Italian, wasn’t used much by the elderly woman she looked after. She preferred to refer to Olga as a family friend. I have found that there can be a stigma attached to having a caregiver that many aging women in Italy, who for so long took care of the needs of their families, don’t wish to feel associated with.

Olga, who has experience caring for the elderly as well as young children in Italy, said she was just happy that if she couldn’t be with her own family, that she was welcomed and able to help out another family for a living. She expressed that she was in Italy only to work so that she could provide enough financial support for her children and nephew in Ukraine.

The other caregiver from Ukraine whom I interviewed in Rimini had similar reasons for coming to Italy to work. Like Olga, Iryna is middle-aged and is married with children. Her husband is a retired mechanic and lives in Ukraine. She hasn’t seen him in five years. If she leaves Italy, she may not be able to return because she does not have legal permission to work in the country.

Iryna explained that it was a big sacrifice to be so far away from home, but that it was important
and necessary. Her husband’s pension from the Ukrainian government is 50 euro each month, which is the equivalent to about $70. She made about 100 euro a month when she worked as a store manager in Ukraine, but makes about 800 euro a month as a caregiver in Italy.

Photo by Nadia LaMantia

Iryna also is "badanti" from Ukraine. LaMantia interviewed her in Rimini, Italy.

Both Iryna and Olga live with the people they care for, so they are able to avoid the expense of rent and can save as much as possible to send home. Neither of the people they care for were available to be interviewed, but, perhaps to attest to how widespread the phenomenon of Eastern European women as caregivers is, Iryna’s elderly downstairs neighbor also employed a woman from the Ukraine to help her and her husband.

The neighbor, Maria, who is in her 80s, agreed to talk to me about employing a foreign caregiver. However, her caregiver had only been in Italy from Ukraine for a few months, couldn’t speak much Italian, and did not want to be interviewed. Maria said she enjoyed having the help of a caregiver for her husband and herself, and also knew the money was very helpful for the Ukrainian family of the young woman she employed.
 

I was on the train from Florence to Bologna to interview professor Raimondo Catanzaro on June 23, when the train stopped at the station in Prato. When we didn’t continue moving after a few minutes, I had a flashback to a few other charming experiences I’ve had with Italy’s trains. In those instances, my journey was extended by several hours because the trains just simply stopped for awhile for reasons not made clear to those on board who had intended to arrive at their destination at or near the time printed on their tickets.

Because I had been aware of this complication, I had given myself a little extra time to make it to my appointment. Alas, I had not given myself quite enough time. “We will be delayed 30 minutes,” a voice came over the speaker in Italian…. "Now we will be delayed for 40 more minutes,” the voice said later.

What was to be an hour trip one way turned in to a three-hour trip one way, and by the time I arrived in Bologna, I had been in contact with Catanzaro by phone and he understood that we needed to reschedule the interview a few days later.

When I did meet with Catanzaro at his office at Fondazione Istituto Carlo Cattaneo on the 25th, it was worth all the troubles it took to get there. He is extremely knowledgeable on issues of Italian immigration related to my documentary. His committee interviewed more than 600 people in order to get a comprehensive understanding of what types of people have migrated to Italy over the last few decades to work as caregivers.

His research was focused on a qualitative analysis of these migrants. Their stories have been documented thoroughly through a series of interviews. He explained that the women who come from Eastern Europe to be caregivers in Italy are often overqualified. However, they find that they can make, in some instances, 10 times as much money working in Italy as caregivers than they can in nondomestic jobs in their native countries.

Catanzaro named the collapse of the Soviet Union as one of the key factors that triggered economic issues in Eastern Europe, thereby launching a wave of migration to Italy for work. He said that often, these women work extremely long hours and live simply in order to save enough money to send home to their families in Eastern Europe. At the same time they help the Italian families take care of their loved ones.

Not all of those immigrants involved in Catanzaro’s research were from Eastern Europe, though a large majority were. To read more about the project (in Italian) visit this Web site. His research will be published in a book this fall, entitled Badanti and Company.

Photo by Nadia LaMantia

While living and working in Florence, LaMantia said she’s always surrounded by art, including impromptu street art.

A slightly more distressing example is being told that people (including contacts for interviewing!) have tried calling your cell phone several times and the phone simply never rang. When you express confusion or frustration, you get a response such as, “well that’s Italian cell phones for you!”

Likewise, I went to great lengths to make sure the apartment I secured here had wireless Internet capabilities. Well, it does, as long as I’m situated on a very specific spot on my bed with my laptop.

It makes it more challenging than expected to conduct interviews in this environment, but then I suppose it’s good that I like a challenge.

Not everything has been challenging. The rich art all around me and the scenery, smells and sounds of Italian music have been enough to help me  understand why people are so relaxed here, despite any hindrances. I have taken note of all the immigrants in the city of Florence, not only the many from Eastern Europe, which is the focus of my documentary, but also large
populations of those from Africa and Asia as well. I would be curious to know their stories, too, how and why they ended up in “il bel paese” (the beautiful country).

Yet, I feel I have made good progress in my work focused on Eastern European caregivers in Italy. I have found and been in contact with a man who has done extensive research on this matter and I have an interview scheduled with him later this month. Professor Raimondo Catanzaro, of the Università degli Studi di Bologna, has overseen a study which evaluated hundreds of people in Italy in an effort to better understand the role of Eastern European women working as caregivers in the country. The goal of Catanzaro’s project was to analyze and better understand the relations between public policy and private strategies pursued by households in order to get access to care services.

Additionally, his project examined the important dimension of the weight of local cultures and associative traditions with respect to integrating the Eastern European women.

I look forward to asking Catanzaro about his study’s findings because I think it will help me better understand the women I’m interviewing. One is Olga, who is from Ukraine. It was enlightening to speak to her on the phone because has overcome more obstacles than most of us in the U.S. could imagine, but yet has a very energetic spirit.

Next, I’ll report on these interviews.