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.