Sorry for the late update. On the night I posted the second post of this blog, Mt. Merapi erupted. I could hear the thunderous sound of the volcano, although it was 30km away. The volcanic ash and gravel rain prevented me from going back from the internet café until about three o’clock in the morning.
The next day, which was Friday, I was supposed to have lecture and clinical audit practical session but instead I received message stating that all classes were cancelled. Not long after that, I received another message to ask us to be prepared to be evacuated to Solo. Without wasting much time, I took the emergency bag that I had packed earlier to our rendezvous which is the Faculty of Medicine, UGM.
After settling the documentation, we left the city of Jogjakarta. Honestly, I was a bit scared by eruption. I would like to stay to help if I’m given the opportunity. I believed it was the time for me to be in the real setting of disaster management. However, as Prof. Laksono said before, they have enough workforces to help, plus it is not ethical to let medical students who haven’t entered clinical rotation to perform medical intervention. So, I could do nothing but left.
Only when we reached Solo that we knew we were going to be sent back to Malaysia by military plane on Sunday. We had our own emergency committees to arrange the immigration procedures. I was thinking of going back to Jogjakarta to donate some of my clothes but there wasn’t any transportation provided for me to go back. As a result, I missed another chance to help.
Dear Indonesia, my prayers is always with you. You are such a beautiful country but unfortunately with so many potential hazards geographically, hydrometeorologically, biologically and socially. Let us pray and lend our hands to those who need helps. There’s always hope. In my next post, I will briefly give my prior knowledge about disaster management in Indonesia.
Lastly, I would like to dedicate this song (although it's meant for Haiti) to Indonesia. Be Strong! Keep holding on!
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