Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 10, 1 October 2009 — moʻolelo nui Letter from Kalaupapa [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

moʻolelo nui Letter from Kalaupapa

With the world wanting to leani more ahout Kalaupapa - where Father Dami.en spent the last 16 years ofhis life -Aunty Ruth Freedman, a nurse on Kalaupapafrom 1980 to 1990, sends us this letterwritten i.n 1948 by another nurse, Sister Wilma Hahnasy, who shares newsfrom the settlement: This month, I'm assigned to the dispensary in the out-patient department. I enjoy this very mueh, although the work is very hard. We work full speed, from 7 AM to Noon. We see half of the Settlement in the course of the morning: in spite of the fact that we have a visiting nurse making her rounds. In the dispensary, we change and sterilize the tracheal tubes of all

the patients. Lael one is a different size and curve - so A we have to be very careful, H not to H get them H mixed up. H We give eye, ear, and nose treatment;

the dressing of ulcers. These vary in size and severity. Some are deep enough to expose bone, and malodorous. . . This would be called minor surgery in other places; but here, it is nursing procedure. Some patients are so ulcerated that when we get finished bandaging, our people almost look like walking mummies. It's hard to find a spot to give an injection for pain. I hope that the new sulfones will clear up this problem. In spite of their numerous afflictions, our people are a happy people. The younger generation bring their ukuleles and guitars to the hospital; and while they wait, they play and sing many lovely Hawaiian songs. When they aren't singing, they are gossiping. . . In this department, everything is discussed from theology to politics - and the more scandalous secrets of the moment. After a few weeks in this department, one acquires quite an education.