A Sociological Analysis of Ngomahuru Isolation Hospital

Abstract

This article falls into two parts; Part 1 is subdivided into the following eight sections: 1. The history of the care of lepers in Rhodesia; 2. The lay-out of the settlement; 3. The settlement administration; 4. The origin of the patients and their age-sex distribution; 5. Their education and occupation; 6. Their marriage and family life; 7. The daily routine of the settlement with special reference to work, schooling, religion and recreation; 8. The cure of lepers. Part II shows a tentative comparison between the leper population of Ngomahuru and the larger universe from which the lepers are drawn. The aim of Part I is to show the social characteristics of hospitalized lepers, the attempts of lepers to build up a new community in Ngomahuru and their difficulties in reintegrating themselves into the wider society once they have been discharged as non-infective or cured. Part II attempts to draw some comparison between the social characteristics of these lepers and the social characteristics of the remaining African population of Rhodesia.