European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Alcatraz of the afflicted now Home to leprosy victims once sentenced to life a Moloko no Noult 60 mite so pm Hawaii Pacific Ocean Wasas by Hugh a. Mulligan a special correspondent there s a new dread among the aging dwindling Poppleton of the Kalau Papp settlement on the notorious Maka Plua Quot Peninsula once a place of the doomed victims of leprosy they Are worried about recurring proposals that Togy be moved off the hawaiian Island of Molokai. A if they made people leave Here it would be As big a crime As committing them Here in the first place says Richard Marks the settlement s sometimes historian who regards himself As Quot a newcomer having been Here Only 35  in hawaiian Mak Nalua Means a the Given  it became just that for the thousands exiled Here with the once incurable disease called leprosy. The settlement now numbers 89 residents average age 68. They chose to remain when the quarantine restrictions were lifted in 1969, More than a Quarter of a Century after Bulfone drugs were found to be effective in arresting the disease hemmed in on three sides by the wild churning. Pacific and on the other by t .600-foot fortress like Cliffs this Alcatraz of the afflict cd where they were sentenced to life for no other crime than being sick has become their Home. Some like Laurenzio costales who was 14 when he was separated from his family and put on the Steamer to Molokai have been Heie for half a Century some even longer. Kenzo Seki the settlement s retired Barber and now an enthusiastic world traveler came in 1928 he is the last survivor of the old Colony at Kalawao on the colder Rainier East Side of the Peninsula the original settlement was gradually abandoned after the Rev Joseph Damien de Seuster constructed a Reservoir providing fresh water for the More temperate Kalaupapa area. A Damien a p do an i notary arrived in 1873 to serve the  of Soo Efy he died of the disease 16 years later a Shepherd of the Kalaupapa flock today is the Rev. Jobincio Fernando a a former air Force chaplain. Quot Damien was a Jack of All trades Quot says Fernandez coaxing his bog Eleu into the Back seat of his jeep for the tortuous drive Over a Muddy rutted Road to the deserted Village of Kalawao. Quot he built houses chapels two orphanages and a Hospital. He tended All the sick regardless of their religion bandaging their open sores every morning cutting off decaying limbs he made coffins dug Graves and Laid the pipes for the water system. Overwork and the cuts he got from his carpentry work probably were responsible for his contracting the disease quo Damien personally nailed together the coffins and dug the Graves for More than 2,000 of his spiritual children. Fernandez led the Way into the lovingly restored St Philomena s Church which Damien helped enlarge in the last years of his illness. A i celebrate mass Here once a year on Damien s feast Day Quot Fernandez says pointing to the simple wooden altar garlanded year round with Flowers a the whole Community turns out the whole Island indeed most of the state of Hawaii which placed his statue in the Halls of Congress and on the Capitol Lawn in Honolulu is eager for the Vatican to declare Damien a Saint. A we hoped the Pope would canonize him in 1989, the Centennial of his death but it did t happen Quot sighs Fernandez. A Damien fought for his patients. But he also fought the government and the Hierarchy. He was stubborn hardheaded and vehemently impatient when begging for food clothing Medicine even nails and lumber. He cared about what the Church now Calls social Justice. If he did no to have that Independent mentality that toughness the patients would never have got what they needed. Quot Rome is waiting for miracles but his whole tile was a Miracle. People from All Over the world come Here to Honor him. Mother Teresa is in favor of his canonization we have Patron saints for everything from cancer to the common cold but none for  outside the Church under the tree where Damien spent his first few nights after debarking at Molokai with Only his breviary and an extra shirt a Granite Cross Marks his burial site. But the Tomb is empty in 1936, the body was exhumed and taken to Louvain Belgium. It was placed in the crypt of St Joseph s shrine operated by his order the sacred heart fathers. A that was a mistake. Nobody consulted the patients. Nobody consulted his family Quot Marks says in keeping with International medical terminology. Hawaii has officially designated leprosy As Hansen s disease Atter Arnauer Hansen a norwegian physician who isolated the mycobacterium Lepiane to the dismay of health officials Marks and a number of patients prefer the word leprosy. The name they abhor Arnato Kalaupapa a 0 pm. Patoto Channel sapper which connotes an outcast a pariah unclean. A recently there have been proposals Lika he Raff Brendum Defeated in 1986 in California to isolate Ricl quarantine aids victims. Rick Reed a Republican he Hawaii legislature suggested sending them to a papa or some place similar. The idea has found favor with the 98 registered voters of Kalaupapa. A it would be a tragedy if they forced the quarantine ids sufferers Quot Marks says. Quot i m the third negation in my family to come Here. My father my Cle and my Grandfather All died Here they dragged in one by one. I ran away from Home at 15 and led the merchant Marine to avoid coming Here ten we docked in Hawaii i was nabbed As a suspect  Olivia Breitha who had just turned 21 when she was t Here and has written a harrowing account of her Century struggle against the stigma of leprosy is Hast at confining people who test hts positive Quot i n t want anyone to be locked up again. It makes a a Fork on your  i at the foot of the Pali the Cliff a couple of dozen Fly lies Graze in the Shade of the  mule Tram d in an eroding 2.4-mile Trail with 26 switchbacks is a ii the Only land transportation to the Peninsula. Air taxis land at the Little Airport near the Lighthouse Nee a year in july and september when the seas 3 More Serene barges arrive in what manners insider one of the world s most treacherous harbours d five erg heavy equipment and bulk supplies. \ in times past on Quot shipment Day a when the government Steamer brought More patients the whole Iony came Down to the wharf. Single men and Hen looked Over the new arrivals for a possible ate a at left the Rev. Jobincio Fernandez Straightens Flowers at the statue of father Damien at Hawaii s stats Cattoi. Above father Damien at the age of 23 when he left for Hawaii. On the Way Back to Kalaupapa Fernandez pauses at the Tomb of Mother Marianne Cope who is also up for canonization. She arrived with a Little band of franciscan nuns from Syracuse n.y., the year before Damien died and remained for 35 years. She assured her Sisters that they would never contract the disease. A none Ever has Down to the present three members of the order on the Hospital nursing staff. Until 1969, Alt mail was fumigated. Handshaking was forbidden. Potted plants separated workers from patients on the dance floor. As in any Penitentiary visiting family members talked to patients through a steel mesh screen in the Quot caller House Quot also known As the Quot dog Kennel Quot some had no visitors. Kenzo Seki never saw his family until decades after his commitment when the Lions club began flying out patients whose families could not afford to visit. From the earliest Days children not infected with the disease were taken from their parents and raised outside the compound by relatives or put in Toster care. Afflicted children were placed in either the boys or girls orphanage. Even now children under 16 Are not allowed to visit novelist Robert Louis Stevenson called this Quot a pitiful place to visit and a hell to dwell in Quot nowadays with the quarantine listed some might regard the pleasant Village of tidy bungalows studded with to antennae As a suburb of Paradise no rent or property taxes no Auto or dog licenses unrestricted Hunting and fishing full medical care meals on wheels or a Central dining room for the infirm. Near the end of his term president Carter signed legislation establishing the Kalaupapa National historic Park preserving the Peninsula for the education of future generations about the Public panic and ignorance of the disease that resulted in such cruet imprisonment and guaranteeing remaining patients the right to live Here As Long As they wish tourism is extremely limited to protect their privacy but a feeling of unease bred by decades of despair still pervades the conversations a there Are too Many eyes on this place now. Warns Marks Quot what once was a place of wretched exile is now valuable property with historic significance. If we let our guard Down this might end up As the biggest Golf course in the Pacific 10 million still suffer the a death before death a by the associated press leprosy or hansens disease affects the skin nerve ends leg and Arm Muscles and the linings of the nose Throat and Larynx. Injury 1o the nerves causes loss of feeling wasting of or Muscles and severe crippling. The disease is not fatal but the resulting weakened condition and disfiguring open sores Render the patient s immune system More susceptible to other infections and such illnesses As kidney failure pneumonia and tuberculosis. Leprosy is caused by mycobacterium Lewrae a a my shaped germ discovered in 1874 by the norwegian physician Arnauer Hansen untreated it is infectious bul far less contagious than tuberculosis. Health officials estimate that 10 million to 12 million people around the world still suffer from the disease mostly in Africa Asia Central and South America the world health organization reports that less than 30 percent receive adequate and regular treatment there Are approximately 5,000 cases in the United states. The disease existed in India China and Egypt 2,500 years ago the egyptians called it Quot the death before death Quot the old testament Book of Leviticus Decie cd that Quot whosoever shall be defiled with leprosy shall have his clothes hanging Loose his head Bare his Mouth covered with a cloth and he shall cry out unclean unclean All the Days wherein the plague is in turn he shall dwell alone without the  Pompey s legions were believed to have brought the disease from Egypt to Greece and Rome and it was thought that returning crusaders spread it throughout Europe in the Middle Ages a Leper was regarded As Alt oat in dead of a punishment sent by god. The diseased person was sprinkled with holy Waler and taken to Church where a requiem mass was celebrated then he was Given a burial cowl and a Long stick with a rattle on the end a to warn men of your unclean  monastic orders came to the assistance of those outcasts by establishing Lazar houses to shelter and care Lor them. In France alone in Hie 13th Century there were some 2.000 Lazar houses. 1 the hawaiian name Tor leprosy is rna i Pake the chinese disease chinese labourers brought m to work the sugar and pineapple plantations in the 1850s Are believed to have introduced the disease to the islands it spread rapidly on Jan 3, 1865, King Kamehameha v signed an Quot act to prevent the spread of leprosy Quot establishing the quarantine settlement on Molokai and authorizing the police to round up Quot leprosy us spoils Quot Lor examination by health officials a year later the first shipment of forced exiles began Bulfone drugs used with other antibiotics now can Render the disease inactive in a few weeks and even bring about a cure if diagnosed and treated Early there is still no universally accepted vaccine such us the vaccines that curbed smallpox and polio