Concept
Human being’s, inlight of all the difficulties brought by the environment, employ their creativity to solve their problems, one day at a time
About
The island of Bali is home to two volcanos; Mount Agung and Mount Batur. Mount Agung is the highest point of Bali, reaching up to 3031 meters high. Dominating the surrounding area it has the ability to affect climate and rainfall patterns. As far as recordings show, the first eruption of Mount Agung happened in 1843 expelling earthquake shocks, sand, ash and stones. The major eruption occurred on February 24th, 1963 with lava flowing down the northern slope of the mountain. The flows affected numerous villages killing an estimated 1,100-1,500 people. Heavy rainfall resulted in more deaths and minor eruptions lasted the whole year.
More recently, the 2017 seismic activity and eruption of Mount Agung has resulted in the residents within the village of Desa Ban, Karangasem regency, having to be evacuated for 5 months. Scattered across the whole island, they were separated and placed within refugee camps. The area experienced 844 volcanic earthquakes in September, 2017. The frequency and intensity of the earthquakes caused a lot of concerns to those who monitor the signs of volcanoes who said that historically many volcanoes much like Mount Agung have known to erupt with fewer warning signs. Towards the end of September the alert level reached to the highest point and 122,500 were evacuated from their homes as a 12 kilometer danger zone was issued by the Indonesian National Disaster Management Authority. Over the next few months the activity varied and at the beginning of March 2018, the evacuees were able to move back into their homes.
(Kristina's) My Story
I first visited East Bali, Indonesia in 2017 when I worked alongside a charity whose main mission was to eliminate poverty in rural areas. Looking back at the emotional experience which I was exposed to I realised that one of the reasons as to why the progress is slower than expected results from the non-existent exposure it recieves by the media, photography and general news. Perhaps some local’s know of this issue but what about the rest of the world? What about the tourists that limit themselves to exploring only the south of the Island?
The four Hamlets explored within this project; Cegi, Pengalusan, Belong and Bonyoh are all hamlets in Desa Ban which are located within 4-6 kilometers of the crater of Mount Agung. Speaking to a various number people who I came across during my travels I listened and learnt about their struggles during their 5 months of being away from home. When being told to evacuate they had to sell their main source of income - livestock. Cow’s are how they make their money. They breed and sell them which allows them to afford food and other goods. Each family has an abundance of cows. The evacuation resulted in them having to leave behind or sell the cows for cheap.
During their time away from the village of Desa Ban they had to alter their lifestyles drastically. They needed to be able to find jobs to provide for their families, which proved challenging due to only an elementary school level of education. Now that they are back within their homes they have no cows and no livestock, making it difficult even to afford essential foods. The state of being in a survival mode makes feeding their families the main priority each day. Having visited the hamlets a number of times I witnessed the daily activities of those who are taking it one day at a time. The uncertainty of not knowing if the volcano will decide to wake up again was very much present within the atmosphere of the Hamlets. Investing the majority of their savings that they have to purchase another cow lingers within the minds of many resisdents of the Desa Ban village everyday. The uncertainty of whether or not the volcano will wake again remains.
I witnessed the art of weaving baskets and other materials which they sell daily to gain enough to feed themselves for a day, or two.
The safe zone of Denpasar, holds the most job opportunities, but for many this move is not an option.
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