THAT afternoon a thick haze hung over the slopes of Mt Sumbing in Central Java, blocking the sun from getting through to the ground. Even the trees and grass on the dark expanse below were thinly covered by droplets of water vapor in the air. A sudden rush of wind whined through the 3,336-meter-high mountain followed by the crowing of a wild fowl in the forests.

Jetis village in the subdistrict of Selopampang is the farthest village on the south