Yogyakarta, Java - May 2006
This time, the
door does lead into the right tent, and Eirene leads the way around stacked boxes and several groups of official looking people, until she reaches a table at the far end. "Stay here. I need permission for you to stay." Bowing, and setting down her basket on the table's surface, the goddess enters into a brief conversation with one of the tall men in the local tongue. If one is paying close attention, however, she is directing her words at a portly figure lingering nearby. It is he who glances at Clark, and then nods a few seconds before the village elder does.
When she returns to Clark's side, holding the basket again, Eirene looks very relieved. "I am responsible for you, but they have no objections to another Westerner helping out. Let's take these over to the kitchens." Its a bit of a hike once they're outside again, and the landscape is pretty much what someone would expect from an earthquake - very few buildings are standing, and of those, only a handful can boast four walls and a roof. The rest of the village is decimated, and the two volunteers are forced to skirt around the rubble on the rare occasions when another group moves past towards the hospital tents in the distance with a survivor.
The kitchen tent is beyond the medical area, housing larger groups of stunned, and grieving, survivors. Eirene sets down her basket in front of several stew pots, and begins taking out sandwiches and water bottles. Every few minutes, she glances around before doubling the number of rations, and finally moves aside so Clark can empty his. "I want to do another survey of the area while we still have light. That okay with you?"