Marapi village Tour - Rumah Pelangi

We were lucky enough to spend a day in a village that was located around Mount Marapi.  Mount Marapi is one of the world most active volcanos and is located to the north of Yogyakarta.  The village is now recovering from a recent eruption that occurred late last year.  We first met and were provided morning tea at the newly built community arts gazebo.  This is a place where the community can meet to discuss such things as their "chicken scholarship" or teach their younger children about the traditional customs of dance and music.  By doing this they ensure that their cultural heritage is past onto the next generation.  The "chicken scholarship" is a program where students in year 4 or 5 are responsible for the safe keeping of a chicken. The students have a chance to meet with others in the program once a week in order to discuss their experiences with their chicken and seek help from each other if required.  This scholarship helps build responsibility and resilience skills in those who participate.  There was also another program where students drew half a picture of their village, the picture is was then posted to a school in Canberra, Australia where it was finished and returned.  Much more information was given about these programs, but unfortunately it was all in Bahasa Indonesia and I did not have someone to translate for me till near the end.

After morning tea, we then visited a village community, where we had our second morning tea.  We then interacted with the local children.  We walked to a stream and spring that had recently been connected and tried throwing rocks across the stream to knock over a tower built of rocks.  After this we played soccer and then headed back to the village.  I was impressed by how green and lush the village was, but also noticed the areas of land that were still recovering from the eruption.  Some of the students also mentioned how they were evacuated from the village during the eruption.  In the afternoon we returned to the community arts gazebo to watch the children perform the traditional dance, music and songs that they had learnt. Before returning home.

Community Arts Gazebo

Community Arts Gazebo

A weaved lid for my drink.  

Inside the village house for lunch.  

Some of the food offered to us for lunch.  

Kue

Teh dan gular-gular
(Tea and lollies) 

The stream 

The spring

Notice the greenness of the trees and grass.  

I think this is a drain.
It runs the length of the street.