After the 1974 invasion, a bunch of Greek Cypriots, residents of the wider Karpass area, decided not to leave but stayed in their homes under the Turkish army. Despite the army's pressure to flee their homes, they remained, showing untold patience and under permanent fear. 43 whole years after they continue to peacefully defend their home land, waiting for the solution to the Cypriot dispute. When the checkpointss have opened in 2003 I visited them in the village of Rizokarpaso. Fear and distress were not a surprise to me, I felt strongly that time stopped at 1974 and I was travelling in time. (Andreas Vassiliou)

Since the Turkish invasion in Cyprus in 1974 and the opening of the checkpoints along the "Green Line" in April 2003, the refugees are having a liturgy at their churches in the occupied side for the first time. Greek Cypriots have the Christian Orthodox faith deeply rooted in them, which characterizes them as people and society. Great bitterness is what they feel seeing their churches pillaged and ruined by the Turkish conqueror.

Feelings are mixed both for them and me as a Greek Cypriot. The photographic result could not be unaffected by the effect the very event had on myself.

The atmosphere is heavy; the pervasive indignation felt by the invaded, the intense emotion during the liturgy, along with fear by the presence of the regime’s secret police everywhere as well as many curious Turks. (Anikitos Hadjicharalampous)

Drug rehabilitation center, Wat Tam-Krabok monastery, Thailand                                  

In the Buddhist monastery Wat Tam-Krabok, in Thailand 150 km northeast of Bangkok, a drug treatment and rehabilitation program is taking place under the name “The Last Chance”.                                                                                                             

Two brothers, Chamroon (deceased) and Charlan Parnchant, founded the monastery in 1957. In 1959, only two years later, on an attempt to fight drugs, the treatment and rehabilitation program begun in the monastery with the primal objective to treat the Hmong, a hill-tribe well known opium cultivators and suppliers. During the first five years the program was a big success when thousands of Hmong cultivators left behind the hills to join the program causing a downfall on the opium supplies. Since then more than 90,000 drug users were treated and rehabilitated with success, according to statistics, reaching the 70% making this program probably the most successful in the world.

Each client (a drug addict entering the program is called a client) has the right to enter the program only once hence taking the name “The Last Chance  (Andreas Vassiliou)