Molokai

http://kirstinaitken.wordpress.com 

Working in Sheffield and Nowa Huta I began to explore interdependence in terms of the provision of healthcare, blood donation, and traditions surrounding death.  Whilst mapping and working on our ‘tasks’ in Sheffield, an area of this city began to be of particular interest.  Research revealed that this area, Spital Hill, was the site of a leper hospital in the 13^th century.  For this reason, Kalaupapa, a former leper colony, was selected as the third city of study.

 

Molokai Cliffs (image from http://www.arizonamemorial.org/locations/kalaupapa-natural-resources.html)

In 1864 the Kalaupapa peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai was designated as a place of exile for those suffering from leprosy.  In 1866 the first eight ‘patients’ were sent to Molokai.  There were no material or health care provisions, no tools, no shelter, no law.  By 1870 1000 people had been exiled to the island, with an average life span there of only four years.  Essentially people were sent to Molokai to die in isolation for the benefit of their peers.   At its height, Kalaupapa seems to have been a thriving community.  Jack London describes his visit there as an unexpected pleasure, finding “the most cursed place on earth” to contain community and happiness.  However, Kalaupapa and Molokai still symbolise fear, distrust and segregation.  It is an interesting chapter in the history of healthcare.  State policy sent people to Molokai.  In doing this it separated families and placed people in an environment where they were suddenly unable to support or even care for themselves.  In this isolated location the state made no provisions for healthcare, housing or welfare.  In the early years care was provided by individuals supported by faith based organisations.   

With the development of Sulfone drugs in the 1940s, and latterly multiple drug therapy, leprosy was rendered non-contagious and treatable.  Despite this, those suffering from leprosy continued to be sent to Kalaupapa until 1969.  Today some 40 ‘patients’ remain in Kalaupapa, graves outnumbering the living 200:1.  An observer commented that “with tiny ‘get away’ cottages interspersed between rows and rows of tombs the living and the dead seem to intermingle with ease” (http://ghost towns.com/states/hi/kalaupapa.html).