Guwahati: The Rainbow Home of the Seven Sisters (RHoSS) aims to provide a home for homeless transgender women and help them build a better future.

The new facility – located in Guwahati, Assam’s commercial capital– is the brainchild of Sister Prema Chowallur, a member of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod, who has been working with marginalized people since 2016.

Sister Prema, as she is popularly known, is also vice-president of the Indian section of the Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking (AMRAT).

“These people are forced to beg because no one offers them a job,” Sister Prema told AsiaNews. “They are ridiculed and humiliated, relegated on the margins of cities, forced into prostitution. Our goal is to remove them from the backyards of skyscrapers and from slums, and restore their dignity.”

At present, only two people are housed at the home which was opened on May 4 in a rented house, partly because of the difficulties associated with starting an initiative while a new wave of the pandemic unfolds. “But we already have others on our waiting list,” Sister Prema explained.

At the facility, “Residents learn to read and write, stitch, drive, make candles. They can learn technical skills and ways to lead a dignified life in society and the family, making them self-sufficient.”

For the nun, “The aim is to reduce begging and prostitution, wounds that a society should no longer tolerate. They are not objects, but people who deserve respect and dignity like everyone else”.

The RHoSS is also concerned about transgender children, who are very vulnerable. “These young people are going through a crisis. They often leave home and end up joining transgender groups that absorb them into their cult-like community.”

“My goal is to offer them a safe place to be educated, supported and truly integrated into society. By gaining custody under child protection legislation, we can place them in school and help them pursue a higher education, instead of leaving them on the platforms of railway stations.”

India officially grants trans people “third gender” status, but in fact they remain largely ostracized by their communities.

“The Church today is called to work for those who are excluded, discarded, and marginalized,” Sister Prema said.

“Building skyscrapers, large malls or smart cities will not bring any glory or development until we agree to treat every person with humanity and love, beyond any gender distinction.”

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Nun-opens-facility-in-Assam-to-help-transgender-people-53444.html