Norbert Palea, followed by Kauka Kalani Brady, carries orchids off the Island Air flight from Honolulu. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Meet the Kalaupapapa residents in these personal interviews
By Lisa Asato, Ka Wai Ola

Palea grew up in Hawai‘i Kai, was sent to Kalihi Hospital when he was 5 and then Kalaupapa after being diagnosed with Hansen’s disease. Upon discovery of a misdiagnosis he returned home, but later developed the disease. His grandmother foresaw in a vision that he would be taken from the family and sent to Kalaupapa.

On Kalihi Hospital

Because I’m the youngest and a lot of people who are old right now they don’t like to talk about it here, but it doesn’t bother me, but it bothers the state when people hear the truth about what happened. What they used to do the night before they come here, a lot of the old timers know this story. When you talk about that they get hurt, you know.

They used to surround the whole hospital with extra security because you coming here to Kalaupapa to die. This wasn’t a haven. Nobody liked to come here. Especially us, this is your last time you’re ever going to see your family. In those days they used to go on the sampan boat. You heard of that?

To talk about those things some of them they no like express that to people like you. But when we’re drinking, we laugh about it – how strict it was actually it was literally a concentration camp. Exactly like Stalag 17 in Germany that’s exactly how we were treated.

Norbert Palea, here, outside Kalaupapa's medical clinic, first came to Kalaupapa when he was only 5 years old because a doctor misdiagnosed a mosquito bite on his ear as Hansen's disease. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

On saying goodbye

My father was a patient here. I never met him in my life until I came here cause he left when I was just maybe 2 months old, and he left to come to Kalaupapa. My youngest brother, my mother was pregnant with him when my father left on the ship so there were 12 of us at that time. And when I saw him later, he used to tell me, you know, Norbert, it’s something worse than death. And I understand that. People cannot comprehend that. Because he looked back from the ship and we were all standing on the wall my mother being pregnant and she was holding and all my other siblings were there. And he said as long as I live I’ll never forget that day, that pain. And he says everybody was crying and they was going on the boat. And they know you would never set eyes on them again.

On disfigurement

With older people they stare and they gawk, but me I don’t let that bother me that’s not my problem, it’s their problem. You act natural about it. You hear “you dirty, you filthy, you not ready to be in society.” So after years of being told that constantly it’s hard. Children, they notice everything: how come you no more nose, how come you don’t have eyelashes, uncle? You know, you don’t have eyelashes, it falls out. Children, they notice and it’s funny.

The bumper sticker on Norbert's pickup. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

On sparing his family

When they found out I went away, my neighbors asked, “What Norbert get the leprosy or something?” Cause I was gone for long time. “Oh where you went?” “He went to the Big Island” you know, they lie about it.

So you know what they did? Nobody like come play with my brothers and sisters because of me. Because of me. There’s seven brothers and seven sisters, so the girls are all older and each girl take care of one boy down. So I says to Leona, “If I had one wish, please, make me sick. I wanted to get sick. I don’t take my medicine, I want to go back to Kalaupapa and spare my family.

On being diagnosed

I was not a patient when I came here. There were a lot of us was taken in here. I was never diagnosed, and it’s on the records. I came here in 1947. There was 20-something of us. We all went home. … They come here because it doesn’t matter if they were sick.

Norbert Palea sits on the steps of old Kalaupapa Hospital. The old wooden structure burned down years ago, after the new medical facility had been built. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

My father was here already but because I am my father’s son they go to the house, check all the siblings, families like that, uncles, aunties, whatever, and oh, all I had was one mosquito bite on my ear – leprosy. So this is how I came here I had one mosquito bite.

On doing it all over again

I have no regrets of having this disease and all that. I would never change. If I could live my life over I would never change it – every single day, every minute of the days. I have a beautiful place. People come take tours, the yard over there it looks like another world where I live. I’m busy every day living over here, it’s beautiful.

For more vignettes from Kalaupapa residents, visit Ka Wai Ola online, www.oha.org/kawaiola

(Several more Resident interviews are awaiting approvals from Kalaupapa.
They will appear here when approval is received by Ka Wai Ola.)