Ku'ulei Bell said she was "so happy" to hear yesterday that plans for a memorial honoring 8,000 Kalaupapa leprosy patients is one step closer to reality.

Bell, a former Hansen's disease patient now in her 70s, was only 15 when she was sent to the Moloka'i settlement. Though medication took away her symptoms at age 17, she was forced to stay at Kalaupapa until 1969 under state law, and her two children were taken from her at birth to be raised by family members.

"The people of Kalaupapa want to be recognized" for the sacrifices they made, many involuntarily, said Bell, who is president of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit group that has sought the monument.

The U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee yesterday advanced a bill to build the monument in Kalaupapa National Historical Park.

The memorial would list the names of about 8,000 people who were taken from their families between 1866 and 1969 and isolated on the peninsula because of society's fear of Hansen's disease. About 6,700 of the victims were buried at Kalaupapa in unmarked graves.

FORMAL APOLOGY

Another significant milestone for former Kalaupapa patients was the state Legislature's recent passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 208, which apologizes for the suffering of Hansen's disease patients and their families, said Sen. J. Kalani English, D-6th (E. Maui, Moloka'i, Lana'i).

The apology is "part of the healing process for them and for us as a state," English said. Hansen's disease patients were confined to Kalaupapa by state law for 20 years after medicines cured them, he said.

Bell said many visitors to Kalaupapa ask about their relatives, most of whom are buried in unmarked graves there. A monument listing the names of Kalaupapa patients will help give those families closure, she said.

"It doesn't have to be fabulous," Bell said. "Something nice, but simple, with the names listed, so people can go look, if they want to find their families, the year they arrived and year they died."

The design and placement of the monument haven't been decided, said Valerie Monson, Kalaupapa 'Ohana secretary and project manager.

WORKING TOGETHER

Stephen Prokop, superintendent of the 12,000-acre Kalaupapa National Historical Park, said the Parks Service supports the Senate bill and "would like to work with the 'ohana group and the patients here at Kalaupapa in figuring out what the monument will look like and where it will be located."

Boogie Kahilihiwa, a Hansen's disease survivor who still lives at Kalaupapa, said he thought about leaving in 1969 when it was allowed.

"But my sister and brother were here and a lot of elderly people," he said.

Kahilihiwa said he remembers thinking, "If all the young people move out, there'll be nobody going to stand up and defend them." So he stayed.

The last 27 patients at Kalaupapa range in age from 69 to 89, said Michael Maruyama, Hansen's disease branch chief for the state Department of Health.

"This monument ensures that Kalaupapa's legacy of tragedy and isolation, of hope and service, and of Father Damien's caring spirit, will be remembered by future generations," Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, a co-sponsor of the bill, said, referring to the legendary priest who worked with Hansen's disease victims on Kalaupapa in the 19th century. "It also serves as a tribute to those patients remaining at Kalaupapa, and especially those who are no longer with us."

Committee chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he did not know yet when the bill would come up for debate and a vote on the Senate floor.

But Inouye and Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, D-Hawai'i, sponsor of the bill, want to bring it to the floor this year.

"The experience of the ... Hansen's disease patients sent to Kalaupapa is a painful part of Hawai'i's history, one our country should never forget," said Akaka, a committee member.

"A memorial listing the names ... is the least we can do to honor their lives and sacrifices," said Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai'i, who sponsored the bill in the House.

The secretary of the interior would have final approval of the monument's design, size, inscriptions and location. Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa would be responsible for the memorial's cost. The group plans to start fundraising for the monument when the bill receives final approval of Congress and president, Monson said.

"Kalaupapa is certainly not the happiest chapter in Hawai'i's long and unique history, but it shaped the lives of 8,000 people who lived there and their families," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a co-sponsor of the House bill. "It is an important story that inspires us and teaches timeless lessons about sacrifice and the strength and dignity of the human spirit."