Pashupati Briddhashram Social Welfare Center for the Elderly sits on the outskirts of Kathmandu, under the smoky haze of the funeral ghats that line the Bagmati River at Nepal’s most holy Hindu site of Pashupatinath. The home is based within a beautiful temple complex originally built in the 19th century as a place of worship.

Run by The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare, the home is the largest government operated care facility for the elderly in Nepal. (Due to the government's relatively insignificant expenditure on healthcare it actually operates predominantly on charitable donations.)

The centre gathers just enough to cover each elder’s annual expenses which, at around $200, is the same as the average Nepali national annual wage. The government meet whatever medical costs are required and also cover any funeral costs.

There are many hazards in the home. Residents often have to navigate loose steps and steep unstable wooden staircases to reach many areas.

Male resident in pain with a severe bladder infection. Due to a lack of funding he has not been administered appropriate antibiotics (which are readily and cheaply available in outlets throughout Kathmandu) to treat the condition.

The conditions at the home are poor for the almost 240 residents. There are only 9 carers who struggle to cope with treating illnesses due to an abysmal lack of funding for even the most basic of medical supplies, water and food.

Residents are often left immobile and agitated on the floors of communal areas, sometimes in the bright sunlight, dehydrated, sometimes in their own excrement, often covered in flies.

There is black mold on walls of living quarters and damp, dirty beds. Some living quarters are on upper floors, highly dangerous for many residents with impaired mobility to navigate.

Many of the residents at the home have some form of obvious physical or mental illness that is going un-diagnosed or un-treated by poorly trained medical staff; dementia, infections, respiratory problems, immobility, incontinence, skin cancer, blindness and many other conditions.

It is hard to believe that the conditions in the home are the best possible option for individuals who would otherwise live a squalid and painful life on the streets, but for now they are.

A heavily disabled elderly man who is not a resident of the home lays begging in the street directly outside the home.

Irrespective of the poor conditions there, it is very difficult for individuals to gain a place at the home.

A female resident washes her clothes in the communal wash area. Where possible, residents are encouraged to wash their own clothes, in order that they retain a semblance of independence.

A male resident sits on his bed to eat.

Many sleeping areas are damp, dirty and uncomfortable leaving the residents open to a plethora of illnesses and ailments which will go on to be untreated because of a basic lack of medical supplies.