MAKOGAI LEPERS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32300, 16 August 1943, Page 7

MAKOGAI LEPERS

AN APPEAL FOR HELD

VISIT MADE TO ISLAND PRESENTATION OF ADDRESS Reporting on his recent visit to Makogai. the leper island, the secie tary of the Lepers’ Trust Board,. Mi p, j Twomey, of Christchurch, addressing the people of New Ze.: Lind. says:— “The curse of this world war is still with us but there is another war raging among the lepers at. Makogai in Fiji. Samoa, Tonga, and other islands; in the Pacific. This war may last till the death of the victim. It is a fight between disease and health. For well nigh 12 years you have responded to our appeals on their behalf, and now that matters are even more difficult you will surely not forget them., A little remembrance from you. will lighten their burden in these days of trial. It may not be possible for you to help by cash or goods, but if you simply read this letter and then pass it on to another friend you will have done something to help the lepers.” Where is Makogai? “Eighty miles from Suva, in a slightly northern direction, lies one of the gems of the South Pacific, the small island of Makogai. ( This British possession has an area of about 2000 acres, and most of the land is hilly. When New Zealand closed down the Leper Station on Quail Island, Lyttelton, in 1925. our lepers were taken to ‘this place. The island is controlled by a medical superintendent attached to the Colonial Government of Fiji. Visit to Makogai “On February 21 last, I visited this lonely island, at the invitation of the Governnor of Fiji and the medical superintendent, and the wish of our Trust Board. Ten busy days were spent in going through the various wards of the hospital, the dispensary, the laboratory, etc. I also visited the five separate villages where the less serious cases were living. By taking all necessary precautions, I was permitted to mix freely among these sufferers in order that I might get to understand them better, to learn their outlook on life, and see in what way we in New Zealand could better help them. I also visited Nukualofa and

Vavau. in the Tongan Group, and Apia in Western Samoa, in the interests of our leper work. “Through the curative qualities of the chaulmoogra oil. the unselfish devotion of Dr. C. .1. Autin. medical superintendent. and his noble staff of 15 European nursing sisters. Makogai has been changed from what was called “the island of the living death” to a happy home for G 45 sufferers. Although smitten with this loathsome disease, the happiness and peace of this place is truly remarkable. The nursing duties are a terrific strain on the health of the sisters, and in order to recuperate in a cooler climate they have established a rest house in Aurora Terrace, Wellington. The training of recruits for this very commendable work is being done at Heretaunga, near Wellington.

New Zealand’s Help “The kindly doctor and the various nursing sisters assured me that our little sympathy shown each year has very largely helped to bring about such ‘a change. Praise and thanks to New Zealand were expressed to me by all these sufferers during my stay. A presentation of an address was made to me as your representative, a concert was given in my honour by the patients, and I also attended an openair showing of movie pictures, the machine and films being gifts to the island. When I saw, with my own eyes, what New Zealand had done here through sympathy, I was- truly proud to own that I was a New Zealander and your humble envoy.”