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WE wish you a pleasant Thursday and hope you’re having an enjoyable week.
And we greet all those who entered the Gemo Island Quiz, with the first
results appearing today. Read on …
***
AN overwhelming response to our question asking you to explain why PNG’s
tiny Gemo Island became famous; we were deluged with e-mails from around
the globe. Among the earliest answers came one from Steve Fanning, who
noted that it was Tin Tan, the founder of TST, who drew his attention to
Gemo, remarking that it was originally a leper colony.
***
THANKS for that quick off the mark response Steve; as you also observed,
Gemo has another claim to fame. Other respondents will doubtless
reinforce the details you forwarded as we trundle along. Next correct
entry was the work of Steven Anda at Pangtel – it’s that gang of Stevai
again – and his response gave us a hint of the other source of Gemo’s
fame.
***
STEVEN correctly says the island was the site of the Gemo Island
battery, gun emplacement installed by the Australian Engineers in the
last full year of WWII, 1944. Then came our long-time contributor Joe
Agavi with InterOil; Joe mused a little about the leprosarium at Gemo
and a similar facility at Molokai, Hawaii’s fifth largest island.
***
MOLOKAI was headed by Fr Damien, who eventually died of Hansen’s
disease, or leprosy as it is more commonly known. Joe added that he was
also reminded of those biblical movies that showed lepers as outcasts
fit only to be thrown into dungeons or caves to rot and die. As Joe
says, we can be thankful that medical science has now come closer to
relegating leprosy to the medical history books.
***
BUT it’s ironic that today the internet has many advertisements for
Molokai, now often described as Hawaii’s “unspoiled vacation island”. We
wonder what Fr Damien would have thought of that bit of advertising
lyricism.
***
FINALLY today came regular correspondent Benzamin Zairo, who added that
a coastal gun battery was set up on Gemo to guard against any sea
invasion of Port Moresby in WWII. Thanks Benzamin – more Quiz gems
tomorrow.
– Dee Nesenolis
 
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