SCENES FROM MAKOGAI

Hutt News, Volume 15, Issue 21, 22 October 1941, Page 4

SCENES FROM MAKOGAI

(l!y P. J. Twomeyj. ' In the European quarters there is a small boy of 11 years of age. When lie was three, a Solomon Islander who had the disease, nursed him, and this wee kiddie became badly infected. His face, already marked with hideous sallow blotches, is sunk forward on his narrow chest. The unnaturally iarge hands hang listlessly over the side of his bed, and in one he clutches a book of pictures, part of his mail. His face is absolutely without expression. His shrunken legs and arms show cruel evidence of the ravaging leprosy; unable to walk, he cannot even join in the games with the other leper children. When he iB well enough and the weather suitable, he is placed outside on the lawn, and there he gazes into the distance. A medical board has sat, and about 50 patients have been declared cured and about to leave the island. One of these, a young woman of 29 years, is crying bitterly. She approaches the sister in charge an 3 says "This island has been my home for 12 years. .You and all the' sisters have mothered

me. My mother and father are dead, and I do not know whether my relatives will love me. Please let me stay here." In the early morning four male patients are seen to be making their way with difficulty to the top of a small hill which gives an uninterrupted view of the open sea. One of them has borrowed a pair of fieldglasses from a European patient and is scanning the horizon. Two sisters, fearing that something has happened, follow them. The sister exclaims "What are you doing here, what is the matter?" They make no reply and look very dejected. Further questioning elicits the following reply: "To-morrow is Christmas Eve, and so far we have had no i word from our friends in New Zealand. We are looking to see if there was any boat coming from . New Zealand with the Christmas parcels." The good sister Is able i to assure them that they have not ; been forgotten; word has just.been ■ received that the boat has been dei layed, but it is now on its way and i should arrive shortly. This good i news soon dispels the patients' [ fears. :