This morning "Pak" and his wife took me out to go check up on a close friend in a different village where her familys house had been damaged from the earthquake. She had been a caregiver for a family member in "Pak"'s family for sometime and they had not seen or heard from her since the quake. Her families house was in shambles
but some of the walls were still up and that was a blessing to them. While we were walking around the area we noticed some villagers had begun to find alternative ways to get rid of the rubble instead of constantly stacking it in piles next to the road. They had devised a plan to dig large and deep holes next to their homes to bury the rubble. We stopped by one home and the hole had to have been at least 8 feet long, 4-5 feet wide and at least 40-50 feet deep. Any further and they would have hit water so they stopped and started filling it with the rubble. Others were working on repairing roofs and some were mixing cement for the re-building process.From there we headed back to "A"'s village to look and inspect the condition of the local elementary school that serves the children of the
village. We met with the school leadership and the 5 faculty members underneath her responsible for teaching the kids. The school was actually in great shape. Made out of mostly concrete with rebar, it withstood the earthquake quite well with the exception of large cracks in the walls in different areas. We asked if there were needs that could be met and they indicated to us that the students had lost all of their new school textbooks to the earthquake since most of the students take them home to study. The school runs 1st grade through 6th grade and abotu 30 children per grade. We offered to look at providing some of the need if they could provide the estimated costs and where to get the materials if we could assist.Lastly as the afternoon sun was heading down we decided to see if we could get to the village of Kali-Adem on Mt. Merapi. The village was in the news for being completely wiped out by one of the pyroclastic flows that came down Mt. Merapi. "Pak" had not had a chance to visit it and figured this was as good of a time as any to go check it out and also see the refugee camp set up for the villagers that had been evacuated a few days earlier when it seems as though Mt. Merapi was going to erupt.
As you can see from the Photos ash and hot gas were still spewing and the trees all around were covered with ash. We made it up to the village that was destroyed and you can see in the 1st picture the ash trail it left behind. Just breathing up that close with all the ash in the air was difficult and not wise to stick around to long as the ash gets into your lungs and coats them which if exposed too long can be harmful and even fatal.
By the time we got back (about 9pm) it was time to crash...we thank God again for another productive day and pray he continues to allow us to serve these people who are hurting and afraid as Jesus served 2000 years ago.
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