Yogyakarta - Part 4

Part of our 10th Global's itinerary is the Exposure Visit - to local communities struggling with different issues. The group was separated into three, one to Srunen Village (disaster zone), Sempu Village (farming/agriculture) and Plered Village (single women-headed households).

I followed the group to Srunen Village, the village located closest to the peak of Mount Merapi (the infamous volcano in Yogyakarta).

Our journey started early morning on the 6th of December. The ride up was a challenge for a huge car of 7 as roads were narrow and rocky. In fact, during our final leg up, Anu and I jumped on the motorcycles as the cars were apparently "too heavy". Best ride ever, breezing pass trees, fresh air and wind blowing across your cheeks, as we headed towards the peak (well, close to) of the volcano. I will upload a video later (I hope).

We met with three village leaders who explained to us their situation (with Fitri and Anik being the translators).

Villagers on Mount Merapi did not receive any help from the government after the huge eruption of the volcano. Instead, the government insist that they relocate to emergency shelters built at the foot of the mountain, but for the villagers who have spent all their life living near the peak, it is impossible for them to abandon their livestock and land - the government is not giving them sufficient reimbursement, and they fear that if they leave their villages, the government will take away their ancestral land.

They continue to struggle for their rights to proper education and health system from the government. A local newspaper, Suara Merdeka, provided aid to build a school in the village for the children as the government refused to do so, only providing an education at the emergency shelter which is 9km from their village. Children had to walk 9km downhill to attend school and 9km uphill daily, which resulted to quite a number of drop-outs.

The villagers main water source - a river, currently covered by cold larva

Despite living in a 'danger zone', the villagers have been trained in terms of safety measures when the volcano is about to erupt or when there is a tremor. Srunen Village is so beautiful, I was telling Sarah that I want to wake up to this sight every morning, breathe air this fresh every day - office should relocate! haha!

People are so friendly on the mountain. This guy stopped to smile while chopping wood. I feel bad for not stopping and talking to him, I just dashed back to join the group. *sniffs*  How terrible of me.

As we were about to leave, the clouds cleared - it is always foggy up the peak of Mount Merapi during the day. Best time for one to catch a sight of the peak is early in the morning. Nevertheless, the volcano revealed itself before us as we were about to leave. It was such a breath-taking sight, my photos do no justice in capturing that very moment.

Green hills was where we were at earlier

Such a Beautiful Disaster

Trails of cold larva

It felt really good to be outdoors again. I miss hiking so much! I really despise the extremely polluted city lifestyle, not to mention the ridiculous daily traffic (which made me sworn off driving/buying a car and contribute to the pollution/congestion)

'Twas a guy, who appeared to be some radical extremist *clears throat*, questioned us on the motive of our visit - to help the villages with a solution to their struggles, or just "visiting like every other rich Western tourist, and snap photographs of the volcano". Little does he know that our group consists of activists from their own countries and not some rich bum on holiday in Yogyakarta. Most of our participants work on the ground and with their local communities back home, some even facing the same struggle with their local government. Let's just hope he does spread/brainwash the villagers with his "idealism".