(via handy talkie) showed the increased activity of the beautiful mountain, which is now still on Red Alert.
The radio signal and the villagers words made almost all of the villagers who live in the camp in Desa Kemalang (about 8 kilometers from the peak) get out of their tents and watch Merapi’s peak and make predictions on where the pyroclastic flow (hot gaseous cloud containing materials such as ash, rock fragments and volcanic gases) would go. The children who were playing soccer in the middle of the square stopped their game and joined the crowd.
“It's got to be going to my home, I’m sure”, said an old man in an amazingly calm voice while he was closely watching the pyroclastic flow. “Par! Par!” he was then calling his relative and said, “Look, Merapi is giving us fertilizer for our land. Look!”
The man who was called Par smiled back at the old man and continued to watch their Merapi.
“Merapi will do no harm to her own yard, so we mustn’t worry” said another man standing beside the old man as if to ease the concern inside.
After more than two weeks on alert status, Merapi's status was elevated on Saturday, May 13, 2006, into Red Alert status. At this status, the government strictly stated that the villagers who live within 5 to 6 miles from the peak had been evacuated to nearby camps. Currently, evacuation is prioritized for babies and children with their mothers, pregnant women and elderly; the men are still guarding their own villages by taking care of their cattle and farmland.
In Kemalang, besides government, there is a community forum — Forum Merapi, coordinated by Ibu Yami, a strong young woman — which organizes the community in responding to Merapi’s activity. The community, together with the Forum Merapi, has prepared, on its own, an evacuation procedure for the men to guard the village (cattle and farmland) if there is ever an explosion and pyroclastic flow. Forum Merapi is also in the process of reactivating educational activity — especially for sixth grade students who will have final exams in a short time.
The elevated status of Merapi is increasing the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in each camp. In health sector, as previously coordinated, the community health center and PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) are already on site and are coordinating with organizations (including YEU) for health team shifts and medicines.
On Saturday, May 13, 2006, YEU provided medicines for one camp in Desa Umbulharjo, Kecamatan Cangkringan, Yogyakarta. Before Mount Merapi elevated to Red Alert status, this camp was occupied by 172 villagers — mainly babies, children and their mothers, pregnant women and the elderly. After being elevated into Red Alert, the camp was occupied by more than 300 people after only one day of evacuation (May 13), and the number increased again on Sunday. Most of the villagers have conjunctivitis and other diseases, so YEU decided to support the need for medicines there as requested by the local community health center.
The villagers remain in camps and closely watch their Merapi.
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