THE
DAY KELUD MOUNTAIN ERUPTED
It
was a fine day in Sugihwaras, a small village in Kediri Regency. As usual, Siti
woke up and went to school before seven with the beautiful backdrop of Kelud
Mountain behind her. The air was cool and fresh as she and her friends skipped
to school. Fluffy, white clouds adorned the blue sky and a gentle breeze made
the leaves in the trees and rice in the fields rustle. Siti’s teachers often
told them that they lived in a perfect picture of beauty. They could live there
without having to know what goes on beyond the village, and that would be
enough.
Kelud Mountain was the symbol of the
village’s prosperity. The soil on the mountainside was fertile and the farmers,
including Siti’s parents, grew more than enough rice and other vegetables every
year. The children of Sugihwaras Village all grew up loving the mountain and
saw it as their protector. That beautiful morning however, their perception of
the mountain would change. What was once a gentle giant would turn into a
terror.
It all started when their teachers
did not arrive at the seven o’clock bell. Event the principal was not there.
All the student assembled in the courtyard. The older student suspected
something was wrong but Siti and her friends, who were only nine, enjoyed the
delay in their studies and played games to their heart’s content.
When the teachers arrived at eight
thirty, they seemed distracted. At ten o’clock, the students were once again
called to gather in the courtyard for an emergency assembly. The village chief
was there and announced that the rest of the day’s classes were cancelled.
Students were told to go home straight away. Confused, Siti and her friends
went home, but they did not hurry. On their way home, they noted that the
villagers seemed busy in their houses, carrying things in and out. Being so
young though, they did not assume anything by it.
As soon as she got home. Siti was
reproached by her parents. “Here is your bag,” her mother said. “Hurry up and
pack what you want to bring. We are going to the city.”
“why are we
going to the city ?” Siti asked.
Her mother was surprised. “Kelud
mountain is going to erupt. Didn’t they tell you at school ?”
Then siti Understood all the strange
goings-on at school and the rest of the village. She became scared and couldn’t
concentrate on her packing. “ Are you done, dear ?” her father asked her thirty
minutes later.
“We must hurry
if we want to catch a ride with Mr. Bagus.” Mr. Bagus was their neighbor and
the only person on their street who owned a car.
Mr. Bagus’s car was filled to the
top with his own and Siti’s family’s belongings. As they drove away from the
village, Siti looked on at her home in sadness. “How long do we have to stay in
the city? Is our house going to be okay?” She had a hundred questions, but
asking them did not make her feel better. In the near distance, Kelud Mountain loomed
with a halo of dark clouds at its peak.
A few hours later, they arrived at
their refuge in Kediri City. The government had set up a big building as the
refuge for hundreds of families from villages around Kelud Mountain. Hundreds
of people were already there. Siti forgot about her home as soon as she saw
that there were many children her age to play with. Her parents, however,
grumbled when they saw the limited space each family was allotted. They
thought the long days they would have to
spend there and let out a long sigh. There was nowhere else they could go.
At around 11 P.M that night,
everyone in the refuge woke up to the sound of a loud explosion. The adults
were grateful that their families were safe from the eruption, but they were
worried about their homes, too. Would they be able to continue their lives when
they came back? would their homes still be there ? parents held their children
close and comforted those who were scared.
“What will
happen to our village ?” Siti asked her parents.
“Hopefully
nothing will happen, dear,” they said.
Early the next morning everyone
rushed out and looked to the mountain. Volcanic ash was falling. There was
nearly eight centimeters of it on the streets and roofs. Officials were handing
out masks. They urged everyone to go back inside. Many people were outside
taking pictures but not many vehicles were to be seen.
That night, Siti developed a bad
cough. “It must be because of the ash. You should have stayed inside!”
reprimanded her father.
Siti said nothing. She was
miserable. It was impossible for her to sleep that night because of the cough.
Her parents stayed up with her, patted her back and gave her glasses of water
the whole night. When the cough did not go away the next day, they asked for
medicine.
The officials gave them a small
bottle of cough medicine that was gone within a day. Still the cough did not go
away. Siti’s father asked for another bottle.
“Sorry, we are out of cough
medicine, “ the officials told him.
“But my daughter is sick!”
“So are hundreds of other people.
You have to be patient.” The officials refused to give him any more medicine.
Siti’s father was angry and
disappointed. He wanted to go out to the city and buy medicine, but they had to
save their money for food. They government was not distributing enough food,
and they had to buy food from others at least once a day. Siti’s father
sometimes skipped meals so that his wife and daughter could eat.
“Don’t worry, father. I’ll be all
right,” said Siti. Her parents were proud of her for being so strong, but they
feared the cough would grow worse.
Five days after the eruption, only
traces of volcanic ash remained in the city. Rain that had fallen on previous
days had washed most of it away. Siti and her parents were eager to return to
their village. Siti no longer saw the refuge as a fun place no thanks to her
worsening cough, inadequate food, and cramped spaces. She longed for the
beautiful mountainside that was her home.
The officials told them that they
could not go home yet. Ash was possibly still falling in their village, not to
mention the hot lava mudflows. They had better stay until it was completely
safe.
Meanwhile, more people were getting
sick and food had grown more and more scarce. Everyone’s living spaces and the
bathrooms were dirty. Siti began to hate it there. She whined and begged to go
home. Her parents could only tell her to be patient.
On the tenth day of their refuge,
the officials called her father to their office. They told him that Sugihwaras
Village would be uninhabitable for at least another month. His family had the
choice of staying in the refuge or moving to a relative’s home.
Siti’s heart fell when she heard the
news. She didn’t know it was that bad! Being villagers, her father’s and
mother’s relatives all lived in Sugihwaras Village or in villages nearby. They
were taking refuge in the city just like Siti and her parents. Siti cried the
whole day. She could not imagine being stuck in that place for another two
months!
When it was finally time to go home,
everybody was relieved. They knew they all would have to do a lot of cleaning
up. All the crops would be ruined and many of their houses may have fallen apart,
but that did not take away any of their excitement. Anything was better than
the cramped refuge with its small food rations.
Sure enough, the village was in
ruins when its residents returned. The roof of Siti’s house had fallen in
because volcanic ash weighed it down. Flecks of ash were still floating about
everywhere. The volcano also emitted quite a bit of rocks and gravel. Roads and
dirt paths were nearly invisible because of them.
All the villagers of Sugihwaras
rallied and rebuilt their homes together. The boys helped the men to clean and
rebuild. The girls helped their mothers cook food for the men and boys. Next
the rice fields were cleared and replanted. When the villagers were done,
Sugihwaras Village looked better than before. They looked at Kelud Mountain and
thanked it, for its eruption gave them a chance to renew and improve their
village. What’s more, the soil of their farmlands was more fertile than ever.
Siti was glad to be home, and although the mountain reminded her of the bad
cough she had for weeks, it also reminded her of that terrible refuge. Kelud
Mountain may hold a threat, but it was part of the perfect picture of beauty
that she called home.
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