Week of March 5, 2011
Culion Island's Transformation
Photo/Katherine Jack
Hilarion Guia contracted leprosy as a child and was sent to Culion Island when he was just eight years old. He is now cured and was the first mayor of Culion.
Description
Culion is a beautiful and remote tropical island in the western Philippines. But the island also has a dark history: it was once the world's largest colony for people with leprosy.
At its peak, Culion Island was home to 16,000 patients. As Mary Stucky reports, the former "land of the living dead" has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Katherine Jack contributed to this story.
