From the roof of the former Pervaya Maiskaya sanatorium you can
see Vladikavkaz. Since 1992, the ramshackle building has served as a shelter
for some 35 refugee families from South
Ossetia. They have to walk a
kilometre for clean water and another 20 minutes for the nearest bus stop.
After 19 years, everyone who was able to find something else has left. It is
mainly the elderly and those unable to find a job who still live here. Their
greatest hope is that the government will notice them and move them to better
accommodation. But the belief that this will ever happen seems to have faded.