Don't eat the yellow snow or in Jogja's case, don't eat the ash.

Heya!

So once again, Jogja finds herself covered in a blanket of ash-like snow and us Jogja folk are donning some seriously sexy face masks. Unfortunately early this morning, Gunung Merapi had her biggest yet eruption which has resulted in lava flowing to about 13km from the centre. Bad news for the refugees who had only yesterday been evacuated to a camp about 15km. Since then, the refugees have since been moved to 20km away from Merapi at the Ring Road Utara, which is about less than 5km from my kos has been closed off to aid evacuation operations. So all and all, living in generally exciting, dusty and an ever-increasing natural disaster. On a more positive note, we are all okay here in Jogja but most of us are looking to seek for the beach, Bali, Jakarta or in my case, Singapore to escape the ash, especially since we all have the week off from uni due to the ash and assist evacuation/recovery up north.

It's been pretty cool leaving here in Jogja at the moment since there have been plenty of opportunities to assist as a volunteer to help out with the current situation at Merapi. Two of my friends, Hari and Lana, set-up an expedition to deliver needed supplies to Merapi on Tuesday, 2nd November with money donated from friends, family and other-interested folk from Australia, Indonesia and ex-ACICIS students too. Together, a total of 10 million rupiah was raised which went to buying things like water, rice, medicines, toys, baby clothes and supplies, detergent, milk and other things to immediately assist an entire refugee camp up at Kinaharjo. I was extremely lucky to help out in the shopping of all these items and head up the camp to distribute them up. It was amazing to see that despite enduring something so traumatic and harrowing, we were still greeted with smiles, children learning some songs and such gratitude for helping out in such a small way. Truly magical really.

Lana and Fajar un-packing the ute filled with supplies for refugees of Merapi. Photo:Hari Lodwick



Everyone happily drinking milk after distributing the supplies to the camp at Kinaharjo. Photo: Hari Lodwick

Last night, Fickri had organised a really cool opportunity for us ACICIS kids to get on the local radio - Geronimo 106.1FM to have a chat about what it is like to be an ACICIS kids, our funny moments in Indonesia and our views on the current situation of Merapi. Oh and of course, they let us sing on the radio! It was a fun little hour of talking about experiences as international students in Indonesia, our interest for studying here, confessing our love for Jogja but most importantly, a way to broadcast our concerns for the current situation of Merapi and tell our story of helping in any way possible with delivering some much needed supplies to a refugee camp in Kinaharjo and the perils of not being able to get to a second camp but only a distribution point of Aid. Experiences like these are just one of the great aspects of living in Jogjakarta since there are always unique and unusual experiences that are hard to come by back home - whether they be good or bad!

Hari, Lana and I - happy little ACICIS vegemites on the air on Geronimo 106.1FM! Photo: Fickry Adequate

Us little vegemites wouldn't be anywhere without Fickri - Thanks for the opportunity! Photo: Fickry Adequate

There are ever-increasing opportunities other to get involved in assisting the refugees and hopefully, there will also be long-term management of these large-scale disasters. It's something I'm definitely keen to look into once I'm back from Singapore - if I get there. I'm looking forward to heading to Singapore to meet me Mum, Dad, Glen and my family in Jakarta, Tante, Tuaji Bagus, Tude and Alit! It's looking to be a crazy family holiday in a different part of the world - exciting!

So yes, I've yet to fulfill my promise of my other adventures and pictures but something to come - most likely in my transit to Singapore tomorrow morning! Hopefully by tomorrow the airport might not be grounded or too massive delays but must wait and see. But of course, more importantly, hopefully this ordeal will come to end so Jawa Tengah and her people can have a chance to recover, as well as Indonesia after a ridiculous natural disaster week.

Thinking of all the families and friends out there who are suffering due to any of the natural disasters in this terrifyingly beautiful part of the world.

Over and out but as always, safe x