FOR three days now Hartono has been unable to undertake his routine tasks. Yet every morning he still heads off for the Sukorejo village office building in Mertoyudan, Magelang, Central Java, the place where he has his office. “All of a sudden I became a volunteer,” said the head of the Village Representative Body (BPD).

Since Sunday last week, Hartono has been taking care of 331 Merapi refugees from villages in the subdistricts of Sawangan,