![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jennielsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-2.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout all of human history, by far the most feared human disease is Leprosy. People were so afraid of it that in most parts of the world, if you got the disease, it was legal to forcibly remove you from your home and send you to a leper colony where you would expect to live out the rest of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One such place was Molokai Island in Hawaii. It opened in 1866 and for the next century, more than 8000 people with Leprosy lived and died there. Those who came had been transported to the island by boat, often in a cattle pen to keep them isolated from others. There was no escape from the colony unless someone wished to try building a boat or scaling the 1700\u2019 cliffs. Supplies would be delivered to the island only once a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jennielsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-3.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jennielsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/image-4.jpeg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the early 1940\u2019s, we knew what the Leprosy, now called Hansen\u2019s Disease, was, and it wasn\u2019t hard to cure, just antibiotics. Yet it was still legal to take people from their homes \u2013 for a disease we could cure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s when I realized that the colonies were never about the disease itself, it was about the fear of the disease. That was where the idea began for THE SCOURGE, about how fear is used to control people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a girl from around that era who was being forced into a colony. You see the odd way she is holding her hands \u2013 that is a protest, refusing to hold the sign for her picture. That\u2019s why someone else is holding it. I loved this picture, because this was her only way to fight back against the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This book does seem to have some common elements with Covid; however, THE SCOURGE is not about our current pandemic situation, or a commentary on it. If you are not vaccinated yet, please get vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n P.S. The\u00a0Kalaupapa\u00a0settlement ended in 1969; however, those who lived there were allowed to remain, since by then they had no other place to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More than anything, THE SCOURGE is a story of friendship, or learning to understand people who may be different than yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Want to win a copy? Tell me the greatest thing about one of your best friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The King’s English (If you want an autographed book)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/jennielsen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-04-at-9.23.21-AM-928x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n