Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-08-15
Priest Devotes His Life
To African Leper Colony
By KEN MacTAGGART


BY KEN MacTAGGART
North American Newspaper Alliance
MASERU, Basutoland, Aug. Is
l(P1.-On the side of the hill, just
| few miles distant, there is the
road with footprints on it-but
without toeprints.
1t is the road of the lepers.
Father Paul Bechard, who came
here from Montreal away back
in 1888, and I were on the way
to his leper colony, the center
of his pride. 1t is where he has
devoted his life to the needs of
$50 men and women, victims
of the Biblical scourge.
Then saw the footprint.
One footprint showed two
toes: the mating print showed
no toes. Father Bechard looked
at me and smiled.
Don't feel so badly" he said
THE maker of that print is
well. Soon he, or she, will GO
home. The doctor cures most
of them nowadays"
Patients Full Of Hope
Here in Basutoland'S lepeI
colony live $50 men and women
black people who are happy
CHEEKY. full of hope.
In 10 years they have watched
the population of his isolated
community dwindle from 780 to
its present number. Most know
they will go home, with theil
disease arrested.
Actually. we had entered the
colony when we saw the foot
prints.
All the lepers are confined tc
compounds, men in one, women
in the other. Between the two
compounds lies big area, also
bounded by barbed wire. From
each compound leads a gate.
For two hours each day the
linen and women may meet ano
fraternize, because often bott
Husbands and wives are patients
in this leproSarium.
A lone guard at the main gate
checks on visitors. Another al
each compound gate watche:
casually as a stranger enters.
LeproSy, or, as it is medically
known, Hansen'S disease. is &
plague of tropical and subtropi.
cal countries.
For years it ragged among thu
natives of Africa.
Forty-two years ago thu
British authorities in Basutolanc
brought the known victims to.
gether into this community, anc
began treatment of them.
Nearly 80 Per Cent Recover
The then-known method wa.
treatment with an oil, known
locally as hydrocarpus oil. Re-
suits were rarely good; mos
victims died, after losing limbs
sight and senses.
In 1948, treatment with sui
phone drugs was started. Com
bined with oil, recovery rates
according to young DR.. A
Jacques, a Swiss emigre who now
directs the colony's program, now
stand at nearly 80 per cent Of
admissions.
In other words, nine out of II
men. women and children who
enter with leprosy leave cured
Some are crippled. some
NEARLY blind - but they return
home.
British authorities provide
those crippled or impaired with
a small pension, based on the
extent of their handicap.
Among the $50 in this colony
today there are AZ children. Yet
they, like the adults, are CHEEKY
happy. Depending on the ex-
tent of their affection. they play
together. But mostly, as one
walks through the compound
ringed by the plain, galvanized
metal buildings. the people car
be seen resting. lying in the sun
or hobbling slowly from house
to house as they visit.
Father Bechard is the only
resident clergyman, ougf
nearly one-half the patients are
non-Catholic.
Priest Lives with Lepers
His order, the Oblate, feel;
he should be here, night anc
day. He lives with the lepers
barred only at night by admin
Iistrative decree from them by
the barbed-wire fence. Each
morning he hears confession
says mass, visits around the
compound and chats with the
patients.
He was obviously a popular
person as we wandered around
talked with men and women
Though he lives outside the
compound. with his tiny hut
just outside the fence, he spends
most of his time inside.
"They are fatalistic and happy
people," he says. They appre-
lciate someone visiting with
them. 1t is very lonely, barred
away from family and friends
perhaps for years. Unable tc
write to them, unable to see
them because families in thi;
land may be 200 miles distant
lin the mountains, with no trans
port to come and visit"
In addition to Father Becharc
and DR.. Jacques there are three
other official residents. a ma
Itron and two nurses, all natives
The matron recently replaced
a white nurse. typical of the
British policy Of handing over tc
the natives the direction of Their