Life on the edge of a volcano

Villagers go about their business while waiting for the mountain to blow

BERASTAGI, INDONESIA // When Indonesian farmer Elfi Dalimunthe fled to safety last week as a volcano hurled hot ash and rocks across the sky, it marked the third time she had been forced to abandon her home in recent years.

“I heard a loud booming sound and saw thick ash spewing out,” the 30-year-old said, recalling the terrifying eruptions that prompted her family to flee to a temporary shelter. They are among more than 10,000 people who had to leave their homes this month after an increase in the activity of Mount Sinabung, on Sumatra island. Their experience highlights the precarious existence that many face in a country that has the highest number of volcanoes in the world.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a belt of seismic activity around the basin of the Pacific Ocean, and has about 130 active volcanoes.

Millions of poor Indonesians live on or near the slopes of the steaming mountains, where the volcanic soil makes for extremely fertile farmland, and many insist on returning to their villages even after major eruptions.

Ms Dalimunthe fled her small village, just kilometres from Sinabung, for the first time in 2010. She was away from home for a few weeks that time but after an eruption in September 2013, she was forced from her home for more than a year.

While she was away, last year, her wooden house was crushed by falling ash during an eruption. Despite the disaster, the vegetable farmer returned to the village with her husband and three children and established a new home.

Even after last week’s eruption, she insists she will return to her village because her children are at schools in the area.

“I will move when the children are older,” she said, sitting on a thin mat in a cramped hall holding about 500 people in the town of Berastagi, where many are sheltering.

Many villagers, in many cases farmers who have little education, do not want to leave their homes even during eruptions and officials face resistance from villagers who are. Some of those who are persuaded to leave insist on returning to their homes during daytime to tend to the crops of chilli, tomato and potatoes that are grown in the area.

Vegetable seller Syafitri Sitepu

Rosalinda Indonesian woman

left her village near Sinabung last week but said her husband had returned to look after their crops. “He’s our family’s breadwinner. If he did not work, how would we be able to feed our baby?” said the 30-year-old.

The increase in Sinabung’s activity has been sudden and dramatic. Clouds of hot gas, rocks and molten lava have cascaded down the volcano’s slopes in the past week and officials have warned that there is a strong chance of more eruptions.

Thick volcanic ash has coated crops and buildings and the air pollution is severe with those determined not to leave forced to wear face masks for protection. Staying is not just about stubbornness, though.

For some of those living below the volcano, there is alternative available with under-resourced local authorities unable to provide them with decent, new homes.

Rosalinda, 55, who recently left her home, said that she would like her village to be relocated but the government has yet to take any action. “We need money to move so we have to sell our homes first,” she said, “but who wants to buy our houses?”

We need money to move so we have to sell our homes first. But who wants to buy our houses?