Posted by: Phin Upham
Although Hawaii is considered paradise today, it wasn’t always the case. About 140 years ago, it had a reputation as an “epicenter of a terrifying disease,” — leprosy. In the article “Before There Was Paradise,” writer John Tayman writes about the infamous leprosy colony on the island of Molokai. It started in 1866. The Hawaiian the American governments sent more than 8,000 people to Molokai because they believed leprosy was “rampantly contagious, that isolation was the only effective means of controlling the disease, and that every person they banished actually suffered from leprosy and was thus a hopeless case.” Of course they were wrong about all three speculations.
“Before There Was Paradise,” is an interesting look at a time in history when Hawaii had to fight to overcome that bad reputation. It also dispels the irrational fears about leprosy with facts that many people still don’t know.
To find out more, read the entire article: http://www.cntraveler.com/features/2005/11/Before-There-Was-Paradise