Indonesian vendor selling snacks, beverages and pictures of the mount Merapi volcanic eruptions. -- PHOTO: AFP
KINAHREJO (Indonesia) - JAVANESE villagers who survived the violent eruptions of Mount Merapi volcano last year are tapping into the macabre market for disaster tourism to help rebuild their shattered lives.
Suwarni lost her house and father-in-law when the volcano burst into life in October and November, killing more than 350 people in searing rivers of lava, ash and gas that swept across the surrounding countryside.
Government assistance was scant and with little prospect of employment the 26-year-old mother started selling video CDs of the disaster to tourists who have been flocking to the mountain north of Yogyakarta. 'It's a strange feeling. I'm selling video CDs about my devastated home to tourists,' Suwarni told AFP.
'I have no choice. Although it's difficult for me, I have to get over it and bring some money to my family.'
Tourists from around Indonesia and the world have been coming to Merapi to see the devastation first-hand since the threat level was downgraded in December, officials said.
The eruptions were the biggest since 1872 and the 2,970m peak is still rumbling deep within its molten core. The official alert level now stands at 'vigilant', but the eruptions have stopped.
Almost 400,000 people who spent weeks in emergency shelters have returned home, many finding nothing but ash or mud where their villages once stood.-- AFP
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