Playing happily at the base of Mt Tavurvur, the volcano that destroyed Rabaul in 1994 and then re erupted in 2014, does not seem to be harming the children we saw dusting themselves with ash, plastering themselves with mud or dancing around the hot springs at the base of the mountain. They were so happy, healthy and well behaved. However I wonder what is happening to their lungs. Will they be like our Wittenoom children who grew up happily playing in the asbestos dust at the West Australian mine during the 1950s only to find they are now dying from asbestos related diseases?
