Molokai

Damien De Veuster (1849 - 1889) was an extraordinary man, determined to go into missionary work before he was barely ordained in the Picpus order. He fought to get on the mission to Hawaii where he was obsessed with improving the lives of the lepers, arousing intense hatred from his church authorities who felt that he was breaking too many taboos.

He worked on the island of Molokai - a place where lepers were sent with no medical assistance. Father Damien changed all this - he helped build a pipeline to bring fresh water to their village, asked the government to send more food and clothes to Molokai, built hospitals and taught people to read and write.

He died of leprosy, but has continued to fascinate because of his compassion and perseverance in the midst of conflict.