Who was Father Damien?

Father Damien deVeuster was a Catholic missionary priest from Belgium who went to the leprosarium on Kalaupapa, Hawaii in 1873. At the time of his arrival, the leprosy colony did not have any buildings or potable water, and patients lived in caves and rudimentary shacks made of sticks and leaves. It was supplied by ships that would throw the supplies into the water and rely on either currents or leprosy victims to swim out to retrieve the supplies. Father Damien was responsible for building permanent structures, including churches, and organizing the leprosarium. Sadly, Father Damien developed leprosy and died in 1889.