MOLOKAI MEMORIES - History of island makes impression on Iolan

By RICHARD LUKEN richard@iolaregister.com

Iolan Don Hillbrant spent about three weeks in Hawaii in December, learning about bits of the state’s history, including the story of Father Damien and the island of Molokai.

Now, Hillbrant hopes to share Damien’s story with local churches or other civic organizations.

The history of Molokai, the fifth largest of the Hawaiian islands, is a brutal one, Hillbrant said.

Shortly after British navigator Capt. James Cook arrived in Hawaii in 1778 — thus opening the island to scores of immigrants from the East and West — Hawaii proved fertile ground for disease, because the natives had no such resistance to smallpox, influenza or whooping cough.

One of the most sinister diseases of the time, leprosy, also took hold. It spread so rapidly that King Kamehameha III issued a decree demanding all those afflicted be dispatched to Kalaupapa, a colony on the north edge of Molokai.

Because of the unknown quality and transmission of the disease, fear guided lawmakers’ decisions in establishing the colony, Hillbrant noted.

Leprosy (now known as Hansen’s Disease) was for all practical purposes a death sentence at the time. Sufferers were banished to colonies and no longer allowed a role in civilized societies.

Molokai was home to such a colony for more than century, until the forced quarantine was ended in 1969.

THE PLIGHT Of Molokai’s people grabbed the world’s attention through the efforts of Father Damien, a Belgian priest who made it to Hawaii as a stroke of misfortune.

His brother had originally been scheduled to serve in Hawaii until he became sick shortly before his mission was to begin. Damien petitioned his superiors that he take his brother’s place. He arrived in March 1864 and operated one of Hawaii’s largest parishes for about nine years before volunteering to serve the nearby Molokai colonists.

There, Damien’s eyes were opened to the horrors of leprosy and the agony of those afflicted.

Housing was spartan at best, with most huts easily blown apart in storms. The grotesque smell of rotting flesh was accompanied most frequently with the sounds of constant coughing.

Even worse, the colonists were expeted to till the island’s rich soil, raise cattle and feed themselves with little assistance.

Damien’s mission was to restore a sense of personal worth and dignity for the lepers.

He started by fencing in a cemetery to keep wild animals away, and helping build sturdier coffins. A church, orphanage and hopsital soon followed. Damien also played a role in helping set up basic laws.

And while Damien continued to minister the sick, he also assisted in other ways, by frequently washing their bodies, bandaging wounds and tidying their huts.

Damien’s efforts made him a beloved figure among the colonists, to the point that he declined offers to leave and be replaced by other priests.

According to written reports, most believe Damien was sickened after scalding his feet with hot water, causing blisters and open sores, exposing him to leprosy. He developed other symptoms shortly thereafter, which worsened until he died in 1889. Even then, he engaged in a flurry of activity to spearhead building projects and serving others until he became too sick to carry on.

Today, antibiotics effectively treat leprosy.

VISITING THE old colony site required a three-hour mule ride from atop a 3,000-foot plateau, Hillbrant said. While the forced quarantine was rescinded in 1969, many residents there chose to stay, including some elderly residents who suffered from leprosy when they were younger.

The mule ride took a grueling three hours, Hillbrant said, along a steep, narrow path.

“At many parts, you had to stop and wait on the mule ahead to make it,” he said. On one side was the grassy plateau; on the other a steep precipice.

“This was unbelievably dangerous and nothing like my burro trip down into our Grand Canyon,” he said. “You could look over the side and see nothing but a steep drop-off. It was one of the greatest times of my life.”

Hillbrant, a retired farmer and schoolteacher, also visited the grave of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, who is buried in Maui.

Hillbrant said he hoped to present Damien’s story to the “many dedicated Christians in Iola. I do not push any certain faith.”