Today I visited Makogai island. Giant clams are grown there and relocated to touristy dive sites.
I was lucky enough to sneak up on one and have George take a picture before it darted away. Ha ha.
The island used to house all of the lepers in the South Pacific. Once leprosy was cured/ controlled and no longer communicable, island facilities fell into disrepair due to disuse. Thank goodness.
It reminded me of my visits to the Hawaiian leprosy facility located at Kaulapapa on the isalnd of Molokai. During my visits there, sponsored by a very colorful and fun guy named "Boogie", the so-called and self-appointed "Mayor" of Kaulapapa, I came to admire and respect the few remaining Hansen's disease sufferers who bore their condition with a quiet grace and dignity that was totally alien to my experience.
Indeed, most of us fret over that which we don't have. Those brave souls, religious or not, bore their fate in life with grace and serenity.
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