I went on a day trip yesterday with some girlfriends to visit the island of Molokai. Before we moved to Hawaii I never knew or understood what existed on Molokai-a leper colony where 8,000 people (mostly Polynesian) were exiled and forgotten by society. Here we are ready to board the plane to begin our adventure.
The Kalaupapa Peninsula, surrounded by ocean and cut off by the rest of Molokai by 1,600 foot cliffs, is the location of the leper colony. You can see why it was considered a "prison" to them. There is no vehicle access. There is a 3 mile trail that zigzags down the cliffs. In the days of the leper colony, the trail was patrolled topside by dogs and guards to prevent patients from escaping.
The Kalaupapa settlement, location of the leper colony where 19 patients still live today. Exile of patients ceased in 1969 after a cure was discovered, but these patients still wish to live out the rest of their lives here in peace. For most, this island was all they ever knew, forgotten by family and ostracized by society when they tried to reintegrate.
The Kalauapapa airport...seriously, this is the whole thing.
The graveyard on Kalaupapa. It went on and on. Most graves are unmarked, markers washed away by a tsunami or families were too poor.
Ruins are all that are left of the Leprosy Investigation station, erected by the government to experiment on patients who volunteered. However, most patients left due to the even stricter isolation and cruel treatment sociably by doctores. The station only lasted 5 years.
The small island to the far left is where ships anchored to deliver exiles. They were sent aboard by small row boats with 1 set of clothes and 1 week of food. Once ashore, they were given nothing, not even homes. They had to completely fend for themselves...some even residing in caves. This is where Father Damien came into the picture. He arrived and built a settlement for the exiles, providing shelter, protection for the younger children (there was much lawlessness and slavery of young and weak with no justice system), first aid care, fresh water, hope and encouragement.
Father Damien's church (with his grave right next to it)
It was an amazing day. The island is filled with so much serenity and beauty, but held so much sorrow and pain. I will never forget this experience. For those more interested, I highly recommend the book "Molokai" which we all read before our trip. It is a beautiful story, historical fiction, so well written, and really captures the tale of this place.
What dorks in those swim caps! Yes, this is me with some of the neighborhood gals. We signed up together, trained together, and encouraged each other to the finish. However at the start line as it started to rain and nerves got the better of us we wondered "Whose idea was this and why are we here?!". I always get super jittery at the beginning of a race-it is a terrible feeling. And this one held so many unknowns...swimming in the open ocean in a crowd, transition areas with people going every which way, switching shoes and hats, but I must say my family was the best cheering crowd out there!!
The gun went off and there we go!
In this picture, Joel tried to capture all the sea of white swim caps. It was mass craziness. We had to swim out to a certain buoy on one side, go around, and swim back on the other side. On my way back, someone going out crossed over and ran in to me head on! It got me all discombobulated. Not to mention getting squished between 2 swimmers and kicked a few times.
But I finally finished the swim and am here running out of the water to switch into my biking gear.
...and then off I go. This was actually the part I was dreading the most and ended up enjoying it the most. Thank you Natalie for the use of your professional bike! The first time I "clipped" into this bike, I fell right over on a trash can, but in the end believe using this baby cut 5 to 10 minutes off of my time.
...and on to the run. The part I thought I would be the strongest in but it seemed SOOOOO long and I struggled.
But I finished!!! I am not posting the picture of me lying on the ground dying after this triumphant finish.
Celebrating with some of the gals. My "permanent" number somehow washed off in the swim but I still have a faint number on my leg even after scrubbing. It really was a great experience. I love a challenge and am blessed to have the support of my wonderful husband. Joel, Thank you for chasing the kids and corralling them to every photo point for 2 hours, and for all your support during training-you ARE MY HERO!
