In Focus

Although Mt. Merapi is not erupting as actively, the volcano remains at Caution Level 4. According to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency (PVMBG), Merapi erupted twice on 22nd November 2010 spewing pyroclastic flow.

Some IDPs have returned home since the danger zones were reduced. However, 287,699 people are still staying at 134 evacuation sites in Yogyakarta and Central Java Provinces.

Three hundred of these IDP’s are staying at a midwifery school hall in Karang Sub-village, Sidorejo, Klaten District. Many have been there for almost a month and some other for ten days after staying at a couple of other sites. Karang Sub-village is located 8 km from the peak of Merapi. It is now considered a safe zone in Klaten District. However, they have been unable to resume normal activities because many important infrastructures were destroyed in the lava flow. In the meantime, they return home during the day to feed their cattle and check on their belongings.

Children posing in front of their drawings during recreational activity conducted in Sidorejo Village, Klaten
(Iim Imanuel Hutagalung/ CWS Indonesia)

There are about 50 children among the IDPs. They still cannot attend school and do not have recreational activities available at the evacuation sites. Many confessed that they feel bored. They wondered when they could go back home and return to school. 

CWS, together with Mitra Alam, will conduct eight sessions of recreational activities for children in the evacuation site at Karang Sub-village from November 24 to December 3, 2010. It aims to make children feel less bored and less anxious. The activities allow children from the age of 1 to 12 to sing, draw and play.

Thirty children participated in the first session of the recreational activities. “I’m happy to see my daughter enjoying her drawing and playing here. We never had these activities before in this village,” said Reni, 30, a mother of two children from Sidorejo Village.