UKGayNews.org – IRIN UN humanitarian news and information service
Kathmandu, Nepal ? There?s no signboard outside the simple white-washed building at the end of the road ? and neighbours have little idea of who its occupants are.
But in this traditional Hindu society, where open discussion about HIV/AIDS remains largely taboo, that?s not surprising.
Behind the well-trimmed lawn and flower beds of the two-story building lies Nepal?s only hospice dedicated to caring for men who have sex with men (MSM) infected with HIV/AIDS, a particularly marginalised group in this impoverished nation of 28 million.
Funded by the Elton John Foundation and French NGO Sidaction, the hospice, located in a working class residential district of the capital Kathmandu, provides one of the few rays of hope for MSM members living with AIDS.
?I thought my life was over and even tried to commit suicide,? Devya Gurang, a 24-year-old transgender person from the western city of Pokhara, said, recalling in vivid detail when she learned that she was infected with the virus.