The young people were the first to leave hoping to find work in the nearest city or abroad. The elders stayed behind to mind the crops and look after the youngest children. The departure of the strongest and fittest set in motion a vicious circle: it accelerated a decline of physical and social infrastructure and, in turn, became a reason for more people to leave.

Left: the only way this old woman and her grandchild can keep warm in a house with no door, no glass in the window and parts of the ceiling missing is by sleeping next to a traditional wood-burning stove. Right: like in other Christian countries of the former Soviet Union, families decorate Easter eggs with a red dye extracted by putting onions in boiling water.