Joseph DeVeuster, originally from Belgium, was a priest in the congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Sent to Hawaii, he volunteered to go to the island of Molokai to minister to people with leprosy or Hansen's disease. He found the leper colony in a state of chaos with the sad people living like animals. People with the disease were sent there with little supplies and no health care. They were dumped there to die alone so their disease would not spread to other parts of the country.
