www.gtc.org.uk - The Guild of Television Camaramen global Magazine - Autumn 2006 ZERB

POSTCARD FROM FIRE MOUNTAIN - DOWNLOAD article .PDF

Mount Merapi: the volcano shows its anger

Indonesian Earthquake
Demonstrating his usual knack of being in the ‘right place at the right time’ GTC member Laurie Gilbert was to find himself just a lava throw away from the epicentre of the recent Yogyakarta earthquake – and of course, as a true professional, he just happened to be turning over in HD at the time.

The Indonesian island of Java is populated by a deeply religious, spiritual people, none more so than Mbah Maridjan, the guardian of Mt Merapi, the legendary ‘Mountain of Fire’ — currently the most active volcano on planet Earth.

Brooding presence

A devout Muslim, Maridjan makes the pilgrimage to the local village mosque five times a day to pray for the safety and well being of his family, his friends and the millions of people who live in the volcano’s shadow. When he is not praying at the mosque, he is climbing his beloved mountain with broad bare feet that know every rocky path and eyes that recognise the subtle changes in the daily mood of this large and very dangerous mountain.

The local villagers believe that Maridjan understands the very soul of Mt Merapi and even when government officials tell them to leave their homes for the relative safety of the tented refugee camps, they trust his opinion enough to stay on its fertile slopes caring for their livestock and tending their flourishing crops.

In the fields and villages within a 100 mile radius of the mountain, farmers, traders and families live each day keeping a watchful eye on Mt Merapi’s exhibitions of billowing clouds, known as the wedhus gembel, and dramatic glowing lava flows. The vulcanologists say that the pressure is building in the giant magna chamber deep in the heart of the mountain, and that it could erupt at any time with cataclysmic results. Maridjan says not today, not tomorrow and not any time soon – so life in the village goes on.

Ring of fire