History of the Leper Colony on Makogai

We spent a few days wandering through the skeletal remains of the leprosarium buildings on Makogai Island, Fiji, but had no access to research material. Our questions remained unanswered until we reached Ovalau yesterday and connected to the Internet. I used information from the following articles for a brief overview:

1/ The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary - MAKOGAI 100 YEARS – AN OASIS OF COURAGE AND HOPE IN FIJI

2/ A Short History of Leprosy Control in Fiji - Ms. Mere Vakawaletabua and Dr. Iobi Batio, 2008

Leprosy may have existed on Fiji prior to European and Asian arrivals. There were graves whose stones were said to be contagious and stories of attempts to cure lepers by suspending them in the smoke over a fire made from Sinu gaga, a poisonous tree. Lepers were clubbed to death and in one horrific case, burnt for entertainment by a chief on Kia Island.

Treating a patient at Makogai

When Fiji became a British colony, clubbing was banned. With an increasing awareness of the contagious nature of leprosy, the Leper Ordinance Act of 1899 was passed to prohibit lepers from handling food, medicines and tobacco, using public transport, bathing in communal pools and lodging in public houses. Non-Fijians caught disobeying the act were sent to Walu Bay on Vanua Levu and Fijians were banned to the outskirts of their villages.

As the number of infected cases grew, the Walu Bay facility was closed and in 1906, the patients were moved to Beqa Island.The island's limited size and it's proximity to Suva which generated fear among travelers, drove the the government to select Makogai as the site for a new facility in 1908. However, it proved difficult to recruit health workers to send to Makogai and an appeal was made to the Catholic church to send caring nuns.

In September 1911, four sisters from "The Missionary Sisters of the Society of Mary", two from France and two Fijian, arrived with Dr. Hall, the Bishop in charge, to prepare for the arrival of the lepers on Makogai. The first twenty lepers landed in November, 1911.

A few pictures follow from when the colony on Makogai was active.

Overview of leprosarium village site from road to the staff village.

Overview of main patient village. 

Interior of woman's ward.

Makogai was an ideal island with lots of level ground for building and fertile land for growing crops and raising cattle. Separate villages were built for the Fijians, Indians and other Pacific Islanders, and the staff. There were two churches, a Catholic and Wesleyan, a mosque, and probably a Hindu temple as well. The patients lived in dorms, with Women segregated from men. Indentured Indian workers were brought to the island to do much of the farming.

Chris looks over the remains of a building that may have been a laundry/sterilization facility

The villages appear to each have had several water sources - wells and cisterns. This well is about 4 meters wide and capped in concrete.

The locks still look functional in these doors leading into a dormitory in what was probably the Indian patient's village.

We were struck by the quality of civil engineering throughout the settlements. The road could easily have been restored to use, being well built and drained by dozens of still functioning culverts.

The physically able were encouraged to work in the fields, assist in building, cooking, sewing and other daily chores.  Physical activities and recreation were promoted including inter-village sports and arts and crafts. Children attended school and there were girl guides and boy scouts. There was even an open air movie theater. These varied activities were introduced to help overcome the sense of hopelessness that can occur when people are exiled from their homes and families. All in all it was a very positive community. The sisters attended to the physical as well as the spiritual needs of their patients.

Movie theater projection building today

Buildings near the old wharf

Buildings in the main village. Some of these can be seen in the village overview photo shown above, which was taken from the right side of this picture and up the hill.

One gets a brief but illuminating look into this world from a newspaper article written by Frank Exon, who went to Makogai in the 1930's to establish a wireless (radio communications) station:

"Whatever one did, whenever one went, there seemed to be always a watchful sister handy with a disinfectant bottle of iodine or bowl of disinfectant. It would be difficult to over-praise these sisters. Whatever their duties - and they are many and varied - they are always serene, practical, and capable. Between them they run the electric lighting plant, the refrigerators for foodstuffs and the necessary serums, the moving picture equipment, and now the wireless plant...Although they work from daylight till dark they apparently never grumble."

Makogai became a very successful leprosarium and soon patients were arriving from all over the Pacific - countries such as the Solomons, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. By 1947, there were 675 lepers on Makogai. At the beginning, the only treatment offered was Chaulmoogra Oil, used to dress wounds or as an intra-dermal injection. It was not a cure, but treated the symptoms. In 1948, dapsone, a sulpha drug and a cure for leprosy, was discovered and patients were finally effectively treated and released.

The following photos were taken in the graveyard, which  is large, stretching for several acres up the hillside past a wall marking the boundary of the main village. It houses more than 1000 graves, most unidentified.

One of the founding French sisters - she ran the facility for 34 years from its inception.

Grave of Maria Filomena - a Fijian sister who worked from the colony's inception and lived there as a patient and worker for 30 years after she contracted the leprosy.

Early graves were marked by stone piles and some by upended bottles.

This bottle dates its bottle grave to around 1918.

Concrete appears to have come into use around 1940 and these mostly unidentified graves pack the lower hillside.

One of the last graves from 1969, the year in which the colony was disbanded.

According to the statistics register kept at Makogai, 4,185 patients landed there, 2,343 returned to full health, 1,241 died and were buried there, 518 were repatriated, and 83 transferred to the P. J. Twomey hospital in Suva when the Makogai leprosarium was closed in 1969.

While a visit to the ruins of the leprosarium is sobering, it is hard to remain somber when you meet the current inhabitants of the island. These children are carrying coconuts back to their homes.

Makogai Photos 2

We went snorkeling several times on a nearby coral head where a giant clam lived along with a great diversity of small fish and hard and soft corals.

Tank-raised giant clam up close

A real giant clam - more than three feet across

An unfortunate clam that did not make it is eaten by other reef denizens

Unoccupied clam shell on nearby coral head

Possibly anemones or maybe some sort of soft coral

Trevally

Several clams were placed in the sand near the research station.

Leaf and reflection

The coral head was home to thousands of fish

There were a dozen of these larger yellow fish - about 15 cms long

These blue fish live in large groups always around a protective coral formation like this one.

Makogai Photos - Part 1

The following are from our visit to Makogai where we explored the ruins of a former. There is now a research station here where they raise giant clams and turtles.

Chris looks through a window at the remains of what could  be a washing/sterilizing facility

This was a small mosque. The entrance is decorated in Islamic green with carved decorations. 

House on the beach at the doctor/administrator's settlement - about 7 kms from the leprosarium

Fish trap

Hawksbill turtles in the tank at the Dept of Fisheries station

Giant clams

Giant clam up close

We saw one alive this big later when snorkeling nearby

Makogai

We made a quick but rolly passage from Koro to Makogai yesterday. We had winds from 10-20 knots from the east, which put the wind almost on our stern. Once clear of the lee of Koro, a lively 2 meter swell kept us in a perpetual roll. However a slight shift in wind to the ESE stiffened things up and we had only a few soakings when odd wave combinations slammed into the hull abreast the cockpit and a few liters of water found there way into the cockpit (and all over where I was sitting of course). We flew only the jib, slightly furled for the most part, and still averaged better than 5 knots.

The entry into the narrow northeast pass was hair-raising due to cloudy conditions and rough seas. We used way points from the "Soggy Paws" cruising notes and our Google Earth charts, but despite this, Rani says we passed a boat length from green water. She was up the spreaders while I hand-steered us through on a beam reach under half-reefed main, waves crashing on the coral on either side. Heart in your throat stuff and it would have been much more difficult with only one person. I suppose I would have put the motor on had I been alone and possibly sailed around the island to the easier western pass. Anyway - we made it through into the relatively calm waters of the lagoon, passed between the main island and a smaller one to the north, and dropped the hook in a lovely quiet harbour off a research station where they raise giant clams and (currently) rescue turtles.

We went ashore and met a caretaker to whom we presented our Kava offering for the chief (his uncle). We then had a brief tour of the station where baby giant clams (about the size of bent over beer bottle caps) were growing by the hundreds in large concrete saltwater tanks. In another tank a half dozen larger clams with their beautiful coloured 'mouths' were being raised until old enough to put out on the nearby reef or in other places in Fiji where they would be protected from hunters.

The station and nearby houses are built on the remains of a vast leper colony. Until quite recently, this was the home of more than 4000 lepers. There are dozens of concrete and wood frame buildings still standing and hundreds more can be seen draped in vines and crumbling back into the jungle. We walked until we came to a wall marking a graveyard. The first few graves were marked and named - those of priests and nuns who worked here, but hundreds more were simply piles of stones, some marked with concrete crosses, some decorated with old bottles turned upside down and buried all along the top of the grave. The graves extended up a hill side covering many acres. There is a terribly sad feeling here and as we walked back to the dinghy, the laughter of children returning from school seemed out of place.

Today we plan to visit the village on the other side of the island and snorkel to visit some giant clams in their natural habitat.

Koro Island

On Koro island, we have spent the last two days wandering around a real estate development called Koro Seaview Estates. Nice walks, friendly Fijian workers, and an interesting manager named Joe - German by birth and ex-Hawaiian.

Chris looks at one of the several dozen properties that have already been developed in Koro Seaview Estates. The light on the path to this house seems a little incongruous in its jungle setting.

A sculpture guards the entrance to Joe's Indonesian style compound

Joe transported a 300 year old Joglo house from Java, Indonesia and has built a compound around this with several smaller houses - bath buildings, an outdoor shower,  and stone-lined walkways. The property abounds in fantastic carvings, sculptures, wooden screens, and a desk belonging to Joe's Great Grandfather, the famous Count Felix von Luckner (link is to a Masonic account of the Count's fascinating life). The property is set on a rise, overlooking the coral lined bay, with landscaped gardens cascading down the hillside - a real labour of love! This facebook page has a few good pictures, but does not really do justice to the property.

Many of the structures on Joe's property make use of carved doors or facades.

Impressive entry gate

A sleeping shelter

The main dwelling is a reconstructed home from Java. The posts to Rani's left are the center of the house from which the structure was rebuilt. The house was transported in pieces packed in 3 containers.

We met two couples who are vacationing here while buying properties. One American couple had bought a lot and were planning to build a small house spanning a creek that runs through their land prior to building the main house. An Australian couple were in the middle of making an offer on a 1 bedroom property up high on the hill, with lovely gardens and a million dollar view out over the bay.

Jenni picks a pumpkin for us to take back to Ladybug. Melons and squash grow well in Fiji where many veggies common in North America have problems with local bugs

We also met a Canadian/British duo (Jenni and Robert) who live part-time on a boat in Nelson, NZ and also own a wonderful property here, half-way up the hill from the dock. About 10 years ago they built three thatched Bure-style dwellings joined by walkways and decks. They have planted more than 30 species of fruit tree on their acre of land as well as prolific veggie gardens. The structures are built entirely of local hardwoods including a kitchen constructed from a rich red mahogany. We enjoyed spending the morning visiting with them, swapping stories about our experiences in the South Pacific and helping them out with some computer issues.

Robert stands on one of the many balconies that tie together their spectacular three-bure property.

Tomorrow we sail for Makogai. The winds are getting stronger and swinging into the east so we expect a boistrous and rolly down-wind run.

Bash Bash Bash

Yesterday we left the Cousteau resort anchorage off Savusavu at 7 am, sailing off the hook and out past the reef. Once clear of the reef, the seas quickly built into closely spaced 1 meter swells with a 1 foot chop on top.

The wind was out of the southeast at about 12 knots and our destination, Koro Island, lay a little south of that direction, so we were close-hauled and heeled over all day. We bashed into increasingly lumpy seas, salt spray coating the dodger windows and the decks. I lubricated and set up the wind vane self-steering for the first time since our New Zealand passage and hunkered down behind the dodger. The motion below was not good unless one laid on the leeward settee. We took turns in the cockpit and snoozing down below, neither of us feeling like eating much.

As we neared Koro and tacked onto our third tack, the wind swung more into the east and it looked like we would lay our way point off Dere Bay, but soon the wind began to swing into the south, no doubt channeling along the west coast of Koro. This forced us to turn off to the west once again. We sailed through a confused sea for a few miles, the result of refracting swells coming together from both sides of Koro.

It was already 4 pm when we laid our last tack into Dere Bay and the light was dimming when we entered the wide pass an hour later. We took one of the free moorings off the Koro Beach Resort, having sailed more than 50 nautical miles to make good about 30. In choppy conditions like this, we tack through about 110 degrees. The waves impede progress and increase leeway, so even though we appear to tack through 90 degrees, we lose at least 10 degrees on each tack to leeway. Thus, a simple 25 mile passage becomes a tiring all-day experience!

Savusavu to Cousteau Resort

Savusavu is an extremely convenient place for yachties. For about $6 Canadian per day you take a mooring ball, with access to free showers, clean water, and a secure dinghy dock a mere 100 meters row away. Two gas/diesel stations lie along the road a few hundred meters off. The downtown itself is a few minutes walk away and has a dozen hardware and dollar-type stores, a good market (especially on Saturday), and even a small health center. There are also a dozen inexpensive restaurants (although the Chinese one nearby is a hit or miss proposition and we missed last night!). Finally there is a decent butcher who will pack meats especially for yachties and a liquor store with a surprisingly large, if somewhat costly, selection of wines.

Sunset in the anchorage

The problem is that after 6 weeks out in the islands, the noise, crowding, and temptations of such a place are a bit jarring. So we limited ourselves to 5 days on this visit. This was plenty of time to restock the boat with far too many fresh veggies, half a dozen bottles of cheap but decent Australian red wine, and an equal quantity of large bottles of excellent Fiji Bitter. To give you an idea of marketing here, I will detail a partial list of our shopping: 10 eggplants ($1 Fijian or about 60 cents Canadian!), a good-sized bag of okra ($1), which Rani is currently turning into a delicious smelling curry, 1/2 kg of green peppers (expensive here - $7.50), and a dozen tomatoes (also expensive at $7/kg), 6 cukes ($2), etc. Our little fridge is groaning under the load. We always start out with good intentions to limit ourselves to a week or two worth of veggies and end up shopping for a month :)

We also re-filled our water tanks, rowing our jerry jugs to and from the nearby diesel/water dock. Yesterday, we re-assembled our welded and strengthened bow roller fitting, caulking it generously and bolting it in place. Rani's stomach bug even cleared up on its own a few days ago. So today there was nothing to hold us here and after lunch we left for the nearby Cousteau resort anchorage.

Since the wind was favorable (on the beam), I hoisted the main and slipped the mooring lines under sail, unfurling most of the jib to give us more maneuverability in the tightly packed mooring field. Rani is always a bit nervous when I do something like this, but to her credit she only let out a couple of shrieks as we sailed a little close to the bow of one moored sailboat and swerved around the stern of a big lean Dashew-designed aluminum power cruiser.

We tried to avoid running over these little Optimists

In addition to being market day, Saturday is also sail training day for local children, and 20 or so little Optimist prams and a Laser dinghy or two provided some more excitement as we cleared the mooring field. However with the exception of a few lulls, the wind held, and we sailed out into Savusavu Bay, which today resembled a large and beautiful lake. On all sides, hills and mountains line the bay and impressively solid-looking cumulus clouds towered all along the western horizon. The wind was off the land and there was only the lightest popple to disturb the water. We sheeted in the sails as we rounded the corner past the cargo wharf and laid a course that would keep us about 1/2 mile off the reefs. To starboard, the green hills looked inviting and Rani commented that she wished we had got out for a hike. However the weather here has been very warm, humid, and windless, so just the thought of climbing up the paths into these hills brought me out in a sweat.

Sail training frenzy

The wind came more in front of us and we were forced to sail well past the resort before putting in a tack and closing with the shore. We have been here before, so had a waypoint for our old anchorage. We beat in under jib, rolling this in for the last hundred meters and ghosting toward the sand lined shores. Making only a knot, Rani called out the depth,  while I stood on the bow ready to release the anchor. At 10 meters depth, I asked Rani to turn the boat into the wind and let out the main sheet and when we had lost way, I dropped the anchor. We let Ladybug drift slowly backwards as I paid out 30 meters of rode and I then pulled the main all the way out, using a preventer line to back the sail and hold it against the shrouds. Rani steered the boat backwards downwind, while I paid out some more rode until I felt the hook catch and dig in.

After dropping and flaking the mainsail, We split one of our last New Zealand Tui beers and relaxed in the cockpit. It had been very satisfying to do everything under sail even on such a short passage.

Back in Savusavu

We sailed back to Savusavu on Monday after a couple of peaceful days in Fawn Harbour. The superyacht, Ethereal sailed in behind us, so large that she appeared stationary in the light breeze, but in fact steadily overhauled us. Ethereal is 58 meters long and is owned by Bill Joy, a computer programmer and one of the founders of Sun Microsystems. You can read more about her here.

We met up again with Ann and Bob on Charisma, who showed us pictures of their amazing trip in the southern Lau group. We are inspired to following in their footsteps and may head out to the Lau after a visit to Suva to see a dentist.

In Savusavu we are having a repair done to our bow roller fitting, which has a broken weld. We will have an extra reinforcement welded across the main roller to increase its rigidness. The fitting has come under high loads when the anchor chain caught on coral during retrieval or when we were anchored in places where a large chop was coming into the anchorage and we had the bridle led across the roller.

We will be here for a few days refilling diesel, propane, and water, doing laundry, and stocking up in fresh goods at the Saturday market.

Rambling on Rabi

On one of those windy days on Rabi we hiked across to the north tip of the island escorted by Tabeta and her young brother Taipau. Tabeta chatted with confidence while Taipau competed silently for hike leader, grabbing the machete and swiping at  bothersome vines or branches along the way. Sometimes he would dart off the path to bring us edible treats like cocoa pods. We sucked on the fleshy pulp around the seeds inside and found it very refreshing. The taste reminded me of lemonade. Some of the pods were too mature, the seeds already sprouted and quite dry, so we threw these away. It was interesting to see the different stages of growth. We have kept some seeds to dry and roast for making "cocoa tea", brewed local style by boiling the roasted seeds and simmering for a while. The trick is to add lots of sugar and milk!

A grand old tree along the trail

The trail climbed up a hill, passed beside a kava patch belonging to Tabeta's family and then through a taro patch planted by Tabeta's cousins. We went down into the valley on the other side and came out at a small sandy beach beside an ancient tree. The wind was blowing right into the bay and the sea was full of whitecaps. There was a woven palm shack at the other end of the beach but no sign of life. Three hammocks hung limply from a large tree beside a little freshwater stream. Tabeta led us across to a neat looking field of taro and showed us how they use a sharpened branch to dig a hole for planting. It is hard work keeping the field cleared as the jungle takes over very very quickly. The family who owns the land here come over from the main village and must work very hard to maintain their plantation. There was a wooden cradle built in the shallow water for drying copra.

Talking Taro!

Rani planting taro with Tabeta's help

Little Taipau shimmied up a very tall leafless fruit tree and shook the branches, raining custard apples all around us. He did not climb down until the very last fruit had fallen to the ground! We used the machete to peel the fruits and enjoyed munching on them while swinging in the hammocks. Our feast continued on the return trail to Albert Cove as Tabeta opened up some young sprouting coconuts for us - their sweet spongy centres make a delicious dessert. She also picked some tiny purple berries on bushes growing beside the path and I found a chilli bush. All in all it was a lovely nature walk.

Can you see Taipau in the tree?

Taipau breaking open Indian almonds 

edible purple berries

Rabi Island Songs

I have converted a few songs from the videos Rani shot (at night) at Albert Cove. These are in MP3 format and you should be able to download them and listen to them on most devices. The thumping noise in the second video is the pounding of kava in the background. The quality is not great due to being recorded on an inexpensive point and shoot while sitting beside a bunch of noisy kava drinkers. The files are also a bit large - between 1 and 5 MBs - that is what the free processing software produced by default.

Bill Solo

Pauline and friends plus kava pounding

Tabetha, Pauline, and Rara