Makia Malo and his wife, Ann, at the 1997 opening ceremony of the “Quest for Dignity” exhibit at the United Nations. Makia blessed the exhibit, delivered a chant and helped untie the maile lei with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. (Photo courtesy of Valerie Monson)
By Valerie Monson
Special to the Herald
“Despite the separation from family, it was a fabulous life and it was a fabulous world.”
So pronounced Makia Malo as he greeted everyone at a meeting of Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa in 2015. Those were unlikely words from someone diagnosed with leprosy who was taken from his family as a boy and sent to Kalaupapa where he would lose his eyesight and suffer other physical disabilities. Yet, for Makia, all of those obstacles would lead to personal triumph. He would go on to graduate from the University of Hawaii-Manoa, travel the world as an acclaimed storyteller and poet, deliver a chant at the United Nations and create a scholarship for young Hawaiian students in need of a helping hand.
Makia died earlier this month at the Kuakini long-term care facility on Oahu. He was just shy of his 87th birthday.
His fabulous life will live on in the hundreds or thousands of people he touched with his kindness, humor and determination.
“Being with Makia is something I will never forget,” said Sheldon Loui, social worker at Leahi Hospital in Honolulu from 1999 to 2016 where Makia often stayed in a wing designated for Kalaupapa residents. “He was always in a good mood, he never felt sorry for himself. He just embraced life. Makia was happiest when he was interacting with people; he always wanted to be around people.”
Makia Malo was born in Papakolea on Oahu, one of nine children, where he was called by his English name of Elroy. The Malo family was devastated by leprosy as, one by one, four youngsters would be sent to Kalaupapa. Makia’s mother would later be diagnosed with the disease and admitted to Hale Mohalu in Pearl City.
When Makia was flown to Kalaupapa in 1947, not quite 13, his early fears were tempered when he was greeted at the airport by his sister, Pearl, and welcomed by older brother Bill and his cherished younger brother, Earl, who Makia called Pilipili.
It was a time of change for people affected by leprosy. Medicine had been discovered that was giving people hope. Two years later, Hale Mohalu opened, and laws were revised so that people could choose to reside at Hale Mohalu as an alternative to Kalaupapa.
Gaining an education
Another opportunity at Hale Mohalu: school. When a doctor encouraged Makia to enroll, he dismissed the idea, not wanting to leave his siblings. But his sister convinced him otherwise.
“She said the one thing that would get to me,” said Makia during a series of interviews with this writer. “She said, ‘Think how proud Mommy and Daddy would be.’”
So off he went. Makia found that he not only excelled in the classroom, he loved everything about learning. He graduated in 1952 as valedictorian. In the crowd to watch Makia receive his diploma in his tuxedo were his family, proud indeed.
Makia returned to Kalaupapa where he continued to enjoy life until he saw the disease changing his body. He was not responding to the medicine like others had. Every time he looked in the mirror, he noticed something different. Finally he realized the disease was now taking his eyesight. He began drinking heavily and became angry and belligerent.
Barely 30 years old, Makia Malo was blind. Back at Hale Mohalu, he realized he had to take charge of his new life or sink into despair. The answer to his prayers came in talking books. He became obsessed with his new world and found a new purpose.
“I would just read and read and read for days straight,” he said.
He was told about a writing contest and, feeling better about himself, decided to enter. It was the breakthrough he needed: Makia’s story won first place. He received congratulations from Congresswoman Patsy Mink and a call from Ho‘opono Services for the Blind where he started to see in another way.
‘’I began to realize many of the fears I had were of my own,” said Makia.
The next year, 1972, he enrolled at UH-Manoa at the age of 37 where there may never have been a more enthusiastic student who couldn’t wait for homework.
‘’It was so fabulous! Wanting to learn, being introduced to all this!” he remembered before suddenly turning somber. “But it was like I was carrying a torch for all the people in Kalaupapa. I was remembering my kid brother who died here and never had the chance (to go to college).”
Makia was not only blind, but because his fingers had been damaged by the disease, he was unable to read Braille. To learn, he had to listen to people who would read him his lessons or he would replay lectures on tapes. To take tests or write papers, he would need to dictate.
Ki‘ope Raymond, now a retired professor of Hawaiian Studies at Maui College, was one of Makia’s readers. They were both studying ‘olelo Hawaii, the Hawaiian language.
“I was just in my early 20s and some of my most vivid memories I have with Makia are what shaped me as a human being,” said Ki‘ope. “Makia was so gracious and one of the smartest guys on a broad range of subjects.”
Sheldon Loui believes that Makia was the only Hale Mohalu graduate who went on to graduate from UH-Manoa.
Professional storyteller
After that, nothing could stop Makia. He was invited to join a group of professional storytellers which would take him and his wife, Ann, around the world. He became interested in community theater and dictated poems to Ann. He had seeing eye dogs that gave him even more independence. His new favorite word: “fabulous.”
Makia not only entertained his many audiences, but educated them as well. He was deeply offended by use of the word “leper” and actively spoke out against it. He and Ann wrote essays about how much that hurtful term should no longer be part of the lexicon.
The new superintendent of Kalaupapa National Historical Park Nancy, Holman, drops a plumeria lei on the casket of Elroy Makia Malo as his burial Oct. 8 in Kalaupapa. (Photo courtesy of Sister Barbara Jean Wajda, OSF.)
In 1997, Makia was invited to the United Nations along with other Kalaupapa residents, for the opening of the exhibit, “Quest for Dignity,” that was filled with positive images and the words of people who had experienced leprosy around the world. Makia gave the opening chant and helped untie the maile lei with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
A lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Makia found inspiration in Father Damien and attended both the beatification and canonization ceremonies for the saint in Europe. With broadcast journalist Pamela Young, he wrote a memoir, “My Name is Makia.” He became a founding member of Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa and served on the board of directors for nearly 10 years.
Still, Makia felt the need to give back.
“I would always think about my kid brother,” he said. “When I go home to Kalaupapa, I walk past the grave and I call out his name. I talk story. I think about him and so many of the others — Donkey, Tony, Lahela, Charlie — all these young kids who never had the opportunities that I did. So many died.
“That’s what pushed me to the start the scholarship.”
Malo’s scholarship, first awarded in 2002, provides assistance to young Hawaiians who want to become doctors, lawyers or dentists.
It’s another way that the life of Makia Malo will live on.
