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Show Paradise Island Hell VISIT TO LEPER COLONY TOLD By A. G. BRAIN JR. (Having returned on March 22 from an assignment to the Hawaiian islands for the past two months to do research for a large pharmaceutical company of Chicago, Chi-cago, it was my priilege to mingle with the inhabitants of each of the Hawaiian islands including the Leper colony.) ' The Leper colony on Molokai, in he Hawaiian islands, is quite a forbidding place and yet those confined con-fined there are, for the most part, happy and contented. Almost 200 persons are confined on the Kalaupapa settlement on the island of Molokai, afflicted with, the disease called leprosy or Hansen's Han-sen's disease, which has baffled medical science even back to the days of the Bible. However, much has been done to help the victims of this disease through the use of modern drugs and drug therapy. Perhaps in the next 25 years the disease will almost isolate itself, as only 20 new cases were reported last year. Since the beginning of 1953 only one new case has been reported, namely a 14-year-old part-Hawaiian boy. So much has been done that new cases, unless advanced, never go to the leper settlement, but are treated in a modern hospital at Pearl City, just 20 miles from Honolulu. Hon-olulu. After once contracting the disease, whether the condition is arrested, the patient is checked periodically for the space of ten years. Dr. Adelmo Buzelli showed me through the hospital and introduced me to almost all of the patients confined therein. Doctors are greatly encouraged over the decline in leprosy, but are deeply concerned over the numerous numer-ous patients who contract tuberculosis tubercu-losis and loose their eye sight. (I saw several blind persons with leprosy lep-rosy and quite a number with tuberculosis, many swathed in bandages ban-dages to protect their malady. For the patients who are able to get around, there is a complete village, with stores, churches and recreational center. Many drive cars and have their own private homes and are quite happy and contented to spend the rest of their lives there. Many of them, with facial disfigurations, could never happy, as their appearances would return to the outside world and be frighten people. Due to the island's being practically prac-tically solid volcanic rock, there . is very little top soil. Graves in the cemetery are very shallow and covered cov-ered with slabs of stone and volcanic vol-canic rock, held together by mortar. To gain admission to the leper settlement, it was necessary to obtain ob-tain a special permit from the Hawaii Territorial board of health. After flying from Honolulu to the small town of Kaunakakai on the island of Molokai, it was necessary to fly by private plane into the leper settlement, which is the only way to gain entrance to the place, as it is sheltered by towering cliffs and mountains that seem to shoot directly out of the ocean quite a forbidding place to see. Heavy equipment can be brought to the island and floated to the colony on barges. A small foot path leads out of the settlement, but it is 3 miles winding up the cliff, with a drop-off into the ocean not even a beach between. Perhaps, in the coming years this feared disease will become part of the "passing parade." |