Making Friends with Disaster
There are hundreds of volcanoes in Indonesia, sobering reminders that the earth is still alive. On the Island of Java looms Mt Merapi, ranked among the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes. The thousands of people living near it know that they cannot run away. Instead, they are making friends with disaster.
June 2, 2009
DISASTER is part of life, admits Mbah Marjo, a village elder living in Turgo, just 5 kilometers from Merapi’s crater. Although its eruption in 1994 killed most of the people in his village, he and his neighbors stayed on, determined to rebuild in this place of their ancestors.
The Javanese have always relied on a cultural approach in reading Merapi’s character. They believe that Java Island, especially its central part, is guarded by Mt Mer
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