Cleaning up the biggest Buddhist temple in the world

The ash of Mount Merapi eruption in 2010 covered small cities and villages surroundings, including Borobudur, the biggest Buddhist temple in the world and UNESCO heritage. 

The volcano ash could danger the old stones and relics of this temple. That's why The Conservation Institution of Borobudur tried to clean it as soon as possible. Due the size of the temple, it took time and need many people to clean up. The Institution asked people to help them. Here, we can see some people joined this project in the front gate of the temple.

In the first floor of Borobudur, before we climbed to clean the corridors 

Some stupas and areas that already cleaned up were covered by plastics in order to avoid upcoming ash. The grounds and the corridors were covered as well. 

I am interested in historical museum, so I was the voluntter to clean up. I came from Jakarta to Jogja, from Jogja I went by bus to Magelang and then to Borobudur. Before coming to the place, I bought some tools like broom, dustpan, spatula, brush etc. 

When I came, there were already some people like me. The volunteers had briefing how to clean the temple. All the stones should be brushed slowly and carefully with brush or broom. The ash and sand that came out from the stones were collected on the dustpan and put in the sack. 

We had to brush and sweep carefully, the sand might not go into the crack or gap between the stones. Because the sand and the ash of the eruption volcano were acid and could danger and damage the stones in the future.

This work need your patience and perseverance. One stone was cleaned for 10-30 minutes. This was only for finishing, because when I arrived here, the corridors were already clean from the 2 cm ash. However the pores of stones were still covered. So, you can imagine, how many people and work they still need to clean up Borobudur. 

After a couple month, Borobudur is opened again for the public. Glad to see many people can enjoy the relics of Borobudur and the Buddhists can pray especially on Waisak Day.  

Borobudur Temple was covered by the ash

Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, is located in Central Java. The eruption in 2010 killed hundred people, many people fled away to avoid the sand, the lava and the heat clouds.

According to the volcanologist, that was the biggest eruption so far. The heat clouds went down the slope of mount Merapi as far as 13 km or 8 miles and the explosion was heard as far as 20 kilometers away. 

A 'tent" on a part of Borobudur temple after cleaning from the ash of Mt. Merapi eruption 2010. It was a sign that it was already cleaned up and protected against upcoming ash.

Borobudur is a big Buddhist temple that located close to the Mount Merapi and suffered much from the eruption. It was covered in ash as much as 3 centimeters thick. It was the thickest ash founded there, after it was renovated in 1983. The stupas, keben and ornaments were covered.  

Due to heavy rains the stupas, the streets and the corridors of Borobudur was slippery and it danger when people walked around it. The government and the Conservation Institution decided to close the temple until it was cleaned. 

Due to the size of the temple (14,161 sqm) and the thickness of the ash, the Borobudur Conservation Institution asked people to help voluntarily them to clean Borobudur. And I was one of the volunteer to clean up the Borobudur temple. 

I brushed and cleaned the stones slowly and carefully with a small sweep to collect the ash on Borobudur temple  

I could work only several hours, because it was rainy. All the workers and the volunteers should stop the work and went down. The way to the stairs were slippery, and after the rain stopped, we climbed again and brushed and cleaned it again. 

Some parts of Borobudur, that was already cleaned up was covered by a "tent" to protect them from the chemical ash of the Mount Merapi eruption.

The collected ash close to the temple. In the ground close to the office there were many more sacks.

The ash was collected into a sack and took into the ground. You can see here, how much ash that the workers and the volunteers already collected so far!! And that was only some parts of this huge temple. 

Office of Lado Educare

Lado Educare, our office is located in Arthaloka Building, 7th Floor, Suite 710, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav.2, Jakarta 10220 Indonesia. 

The building is easy to recognize because on the first floor there is a billboard and the sign of Bank Muamalat, one of big syari'ah bank in Indonesia.    

Lobby

Ths is our lobby. Our receptionist is Mr. Uday. Our phone number is +62 21-251 1535. 

And, below is one of our rooms. A meeting room and we use it for class room, enough for 8-10 persons. We have a small library, most of the books here are about German learning. Because we are assisting people who want to study in Germany.  

The location of Lado Educare is strategic. We are in the opposite of the train station Sudirman.  There are many buses passing Sudirman street. Sudirman is one of the main Boulevard in Jakarta and many important offices from big and foreign companies located here.  

Close to our office there are many lodging, the rent room cost Rp 2 milion (= USD 200 per month). Some of our students rent rooms nearby, and the internship fellows as well. They need just walk to our office. 

Of course, you can volunteer in the NGOs not in Jakarta. And actually, many people want to volunteer in the provinces. Just mention the NGOs, what kind of NGOs and the provinces you want to, we will arrange that and consult with the authority and of course, discuss with you. 

Further information: 

Ms. Pipit, +62 858 1122 7868, email: pipit.glowing@gmail.com, OR 

Mr. Yanuar, +62 812 8489 0000, email: yanuarbudiarso@yahoo.com 

Volunteer during travelling

According to Wikipedia, "Volunteer travel, volunteer vacations or voluntourism is travel which includes volunteering for a charitable cause." So, the aim of travel is different from common travel. Many people would like to go somewhere not only just to have fun with spending time, but give a meaning for their presence in that area. and volunteer travel is the answer.

In recent years, "bite-sized" volunteer vacations have grown in popularity. Volunteer vacations vary widely in scope, from low-skill work cleaning up local wildlife areas to providing high-skill medical aid in a foreign country. Volunteer vacations participants are diverse but typically share a desire to “do something good” while also experiencing new places and challenges in locales they might not otherwise visit.

There are also other types of traveling that engage people with scientific research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment. Participants cover a fee that would include expenses on the different sites worldwide, and engage in projects according to their interest or location.

Three internship fellows in an election monitoring organization in Jakarta during general elections in Indonesia, April 2014. They are from Germany and Austria.

Lado Educare is a language course that helps our students who want to continue their high education mostly in Germany. Now, we expand into providing and assisting people from abroad who wants to do volunteering in Indonesia. 

In April 2014, we hosted three internship fellows who did internship in an election monitoring organization in Jakarta. We made contact with the organization and arranged some things for them. They came from Germany and Austria.

If you are interested to do internship or volunteering in Indonesia in any kind of NGOs, we will help you in arranging that. You can contact me at +62 858 1122 7868 or email: pipit.glowing@gmail.com. Or you can contact Mr. Yanuar at +62 812 8489 0000, email: yanuarbudiarso@yahoo.com