My Life: UCC's Stephen Bean on living on a leper colony when he was a child

Irish Examiner

05-07-2025

My mother co-managed a leper colony. It redefined the way I think about human interaction.
Picture the scene. It's 1961 and I'm a young white boy living in a small village named Zomba in Malawi.
My parents and I moved here from London after they secured work on an agricultural outreach station in East Africa.
It was only later on that I learned about my mother's subsequent role co-managing a leper colony.
Malawi was a dangerous place for anyone blighted with this affliction.
Up to that point, carriers were only permitted to venture into the village under the condition they wore fertiliser bags over their heads.
I was too young to have witnessed this disturbing occurrence, but my mother talked about it often.
My first time seeing a person with leprosy, an illness we now know as Hansens disease, was while en route to mass with my family.
The man attended the same church as us. He went there every week.
Whether he was praying for hope or salvation I will never know. Oftentimes, we spotted him on our way to mass.
After being robbed of his legs by the harrowing disease, a board with wheels became his only gateway to the world.
Each Sunday was a pilgrimage that saw him drag his body across perilous and seemingly endless terrain. What he lacked in self-pity he made up for in determination.
I can't remember the man's name. What I do remember is my mother pulling over in our car to offer him a lift.
Each time he hauled himself into the back while my mother carefully placed his board in the boot.
Most people at the time were fearful of anyone with leprosy, but not my family. I sat there in comfortable silence as we made our journey to the church.
Aged just seven, I knew little about leprosy.
My mother instilled that leftism in us. She taught me to always side with the oppressed which is something that has resonated with me throughout my life and career as a photographer and filmmaker.
It wasn't until 2001 that I had the opportunity to visit the leper colony my mother co-managed. It was here that I experienced one of the most unique encounters of my life.
Cork had become my home at that stage and I was enjoying a career in the computer science department of UCC.
I had the opportunity to visit the leper colony my mum co-managed while filming a documentary.
Mutemwa, which is located in Mutoko, Zimbabwe, translates directly as 'outcast' which was how people with leprosy in these parts were viewed.
Despite the centre being extremely well run, the residents' four-walled existence left little room for outside influence.
Every corner of the centre we visited was immaculately clinical and alabaster white.
My mother and I brought with us a plethora of sweets and cigarettes to gift to residents. However, all they really wanted was hugs.
Stephen Bean at his home in Drimoleague, West Cork. Picture: Andy Gibson.
I'll never forget when we arrived. There was this one old man with leprosy who hugged me and didn't let go. It was all he needed.
My Shona is not very good so I couldn't converse with ease but that didn't matter to him.
We were in a large group together and we all sat close. He had no fingers due to complications from the disease so I lit his cigarette for him.
The old man smoked for a while and seemed very happy to have experienced this rare encounter.
We eventually said our goodbyes in preparation for the long drive back. On our way home, we found ourselves obstructed by a road block.
A man waved us down and I pulled over. He wanted to know where we had been to determine if we had cash he might be able to extract from us.
When I told him we were coming from the leper colony he immediately dashed. While this was lucky in one sense, his panic also reinforced a darker truth.
Both the friend my mother drove to mass and the old man in the leper colony continued to be shunned by society.
This was the case long after their disease was cured. I can't say etymologically where the word leper comes from but the Christian bible has featured the term since easily the fourth century.
Leprosy is the only disease ever mentioned in the bible that is associated with outcasts and unclean things.
Somewhere, along the line this prejudice found its way into our everyday language.
On a more positive note, I'm proud to be living in a place like Cork which has contributed so much to this cause.
Dr Vincent Barry, a native of Sunday's Well, is credited with the development of the compound used in drugs that have helped to cure about 15 million people of the illness.
I will always be grateful for my experience in the leper colony, because it reinforced for me the power of human touch.
These days I try to hug my grandchildren as often as I can.
If that old man from the Mutemwa taught me anything that day it's that hugs mean more than words ever will.
Stephen Bean is a retired filmmaker, UCC
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