One of the things that I do love about the world that i have chosen to inhabit is the kind of stuff that i get to do, occasionally.
I am in Indonesia. To be precise in Java. To be even more precise in the province of Yogyakarta – called by its inhabitants as Jogja !
I am here to continue the film “To Save a Million ” – on Disaster Risk Reduction, and how it is the new wave of thinking, especially in Asian countries that want to break out of the relief syndrome.
I travelled almost 12 hours from Mumbai to Jogja. Mumbai to Singapore via Jet, and then Singapore to Jogja on Air Asia. i got in yesterday at 3 p.m., zonked out of my skull. Today I was up at 5 a.m. local time and am even more zonked.
But, i wanted to pen this down (blog it across) before i forgot the day.
It was awesome. I have traveled to some seriously beautiful places. scenically beautiful and awe inspiring. From the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean. But, there is something about a mountain that is smoking, a mountain that blew less than 3 years ago that gets your jaw to hit the floor and bounce back very slowly back to it’s place. We shot today at a village that is most impacted by the Merapi Volcano – that last blew in 2006.
(Mount Merapi on the 9th of May – 2009. check out the glowing embers)
The village has practicing DRR since before then. When the volcano blew the last time around – the village had zero casualties. From training to mobilizing women, from Early Warning Systems to evacuation drills, from terracing to HAM radios – the village has adopted many DRR best practices that allows it to save lives and livelihood.
There is something about standing at shouting distance from a volcano. It would be the equivalent of standing in front of a dinosaur. A relic from another age that can kill in an instant. There is this primeval strength about the mountain. Pictures and more in a bit.
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on May 9th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
wow.. sounds lovely and am sure, the blog doesn’t do justice to the life around you. waiting for pictures and maybe lets say some uncut rushes on youtube. what say?
have a great time and enjoy the place thoroughly.
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on May 9th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Enjoy the trip and share your experience and photographs with the readers.
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on May 10th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Have a great time. Hope you take some time out to visit ” Borobudur” and ” Prambanan”. They are awesome.
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on May 10th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Just reading about it sent a shiver through me. Wow.
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on May 13th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Incredible…makes me wanting for more…
And the — “jaw to hit the floor and bounce back very slowly back to it’s place” — describes your experience aptly…Waiting to see the photographs
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on May 15th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Wow!! It looks amazing!! More pics please Harini!!!
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