Women of Georgia's Pankisi Valley

These women in Pankisi Valley are taking English lessons, and getting a whole new perspective on life. Many of them fled the Chechen war, while others lost relatives and loved ones in the Syrian war. This school is supported by the Roddy Scott Foundation, named after a British journalist who died in the second Chechen war.

Local women gather after a traditional Sufi reception. The Pankisi Valley, which is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) long and 5 kilometers wide, is a Muslim enclave in an otherwise largely Christian Orthodox country. It is home to the ethnic group of Kists, who have Chechen roots.

As a young girl, Leila Achishvili (center) was abducted and taken to Chechnya by a man. But she was later able to divorce him and return to the Pankisi Valley, where she started a new life. Today, the 53-year-old runs a guesthouse with her daughter Mariam in the town of Jokolo. It's frequented by visitors from Poland, Bulgaria, Belgium and other European countries.

Leila and her daughter prepare khinkali — Georgian dumplings — for their guests. Leila once had two sons, but they became radicalized by the "Islamic State" group and died fighting in Syria. She tries to not dwell on this and instead looks to the future. "These days, I am happy to be independent," she says.

For Leila's daughter Mariam, this valley has little to offer. "It often gets boring here," she says. "Girls do not go outside at night because they are embarrassed." Life in Pankisi Valley is still largely patriarchal. Mariam says she misses going for walks in the evenings: "I like nights." Her dream is to one day live in the mountains — "maybe in Switzerland."

Things get a bit more fun when Mariam's cousins from Grozny come to visit. Since the 1990s, thousands of people have fled from neighboring Chechnya to the valley. Those who moved here still have close ties to those who stayed behind. But because some extremist fighters also sought safety in the valley, the Russian government has repeatedly threatened to attack the area.

The women in Pankisi Valley are yearning for more freedom. One of Leila's acquaintances, whose husband died in the Syrian war, opened this gym. She needed something to keep herself busy. Not many locals use the gym, but Leila does. This is one of the few public places were women can meet.

Mariam shares a small room inside the guest house with her mother and grandmother. Mariam's mother wants her daughter to have a better future. "I want to support her in everything she does," Leila says. "I will try to help her study abroad, because here in Pankisi Valley there is no future for her."