Pic. Mr. Sulaiman (left) was interviewed by a YEU comms person in Lumajang.

Mount Semeru is one of the active volcanoes in the region of East Java Province. There have been three recorded eruptions in less than five years, in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The last big eruption occurred on 4 December 2021. One year after that, on 4 December 2022, Mount Semeru erupted again. This time, the community was already prepared and quick in doing the evacuation. Because these unique occurrences are exactly one year apart, the people around Mount Semeru remember to be on alert, especially in December.

Living near Mount Semeru brings its own consequences where people are always aware that their area is a disaster-prone area. Addressing this condition, the community began to initiate a disaster task force in villages near the summit of Mount Semeru, including Supiturang village - the closest village to the summit of Semeru. Some of its residents volunteered to be members of the disaster task force, including Mr. Sulaiman.

Mr. Sulaiman recalled, “Before 2020 there had been an earthquake that triggered an avalanche. I witnessed that when I worked in a sand quarry. There was pyroclastic flow followed by collapsed cliffs on its way down to the sand quarry.”  

In 2020, before the task force unit was established, Mr. Sulaiman started observing the condition of Mount Semeru. "I took the initiative by myself to learn the characteristics of Mount Semeru by observing the natural signs. I want to learn the local wisdom that was once passed down from the old generations, which unfortunately is not being observed further by the current generation. At least I want to know the signs when it will erupt again”, said Mr. Sulaiman.

Mr. Sulaiman also wants to learn more about disaster management, especially when he and his family were affected by the big eruption on 4 December 2021. Then he met the YEU team and provided disaster response interventions in his village, Supiturang. The disaster task force that has been established is being strengthened with a series of capacity-building for its members. During the eruption on 4 December 2022, the distribution of roles/responsibilities of the disaster task force was put into practice when they performed the evacuation and the shelter management together with the local government unit. 

In Mr. Sulaiman’s opinion, the disaster task force is the frontline in responding to disasters. Thus, it is important to know any signs which might convey certain information prior to any disaster (natural signs), such as when there was a strong wind coming from the East of the volcano to the West and going back again to the East, a big flood on the main rivers on the slope of the volcano and when wild animals coming down from the mountain. 

He wants to learn from both the old wisdom with the new knowledge in disaster management. That is why he is enthusiastic when he participates in a series of training for task force members. 

His family also supports his decision to be active in the task force and do emergency response in times of disaster. Sometimes his wife reminds him to monitor Mount Semeru's volcanic activity when it gets cloudy in his area. And with the help of technology, he can monitor the volcano from his house where he opens the online platform from his cellphone, where he can watch the live-streamed CCTV installed on the summit.