Pen pals Nada Lutfiyyah, of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, and Maggie Hamilton, of the U.S., pose for a photo together. The two girls recently met after three years of correspondence. (JP/Novia D. Rulistia)

The power of words and love can tear down distance to bridge different worlds.

This was proven by the experience of pen pals Nada Lutfiyyah of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Maggie Hamilton of the U.S., whose friendship grew out of the rubble left by the Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004.

The 9.3-magnitude quake hit on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering tsunamis along the coastal boundaries of the Indian Ocean. These tsunamis killed more than 200,000 people in 11 countries, including India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

In Indonesia, the international world responded immediately by channeling a flood of aid and sympathy to Aceh, which was worst hit by the natural disaster. The overwhelming response included letters of support from around the world for the victims. Among these was a letter from Maggie Hamilton, who was 9 years old at the time.

On Independence Day, three years after posting her first letter in 2005, Maggie finally met the recipient of her letter: 11-year-old Nada, who had lost her parents and brothers in the disaster.

"I never thought that somebody would reply to my letter," Maggie said at the State Palace on Aug. 16, when The Jakarta Post caught up with the pen pals."Although we live thousands of miles away, I was glad to be able to help someone in need, even if it was just communicating with her through letters," she told the Post.

Maggie recalled that after she penned her letter, she didn't know to whom and where the letter should be sent; so her school, Charlevoix Elementary in Michigan state, decided to send it to the White House.

Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said he received Maggie's letter during a meeting at the White House in early 2005, and hand-delivered it to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono soon after his return to Indonesia.

"I was touched when I read the letter because it was so innocent, sincere and full of love from a child," said Dino.

He then brought the letter to the head of the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, through whom Maggie's letter arrived in Nada's hands.

Nada's reply to Maggie, Dino said, was even more touching and expressed her pains, hopes and yearning for someone with whom she could share her experiences following the tsunami.

In her letter, which has been translated into English, Nada wrote: "I was so happy and my heart was touched to receive the letter you sent us. My family -- Dad, Mom, older and younger brothers -- have disappeared, and now I live with my cousin. I am so glad you are paying attention to us here. I hope to receive your bracelet in the coming days because I want to wear it on my arm to remind me that I have a new friend."

Yudhoyono read out Nada's letter at the Asia-Pacific American Heritage Event, held on May 25, 2005, at the White House.

This year, the President sent a personal invitation to Nada and Maggie as part of the Independence Day celebrations, offering the pen pals a chance to meet in person.

Maggie arrived in Jakarta on Aug. 13 with her parents. Together with Nada, the girls toured the capital, which included a visit to Jakarta International School and SMPN 12 state junior high in South Jakarta, sharing their experiences and playing basketball.

They also made colorful hand-woven bracelets, which they later presented to the President and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono.

The bracelets are known as "friendship bracelets" in the U.S. and are made from yarn or ribbon. Maggie and her classmates made dozens of these bracelets after the disaster in a fund-raising effort to help the tsunami survivors, and collected around US$270 (Rp 2.5 million).

After spending some time together in Jakarta, language emerged as the girls' main obstacle. However, Nada and Maggie are determined to break down this barrier.

"I want to study English harder, so that I can talk with Maggie directly without an interpreter," Nada told the Post.

Meanwhile, Maggie had tried to learn some Indonesian phrases before visiting Indonesia, but she found the language a little difficult.

"If I had tried to study harder, I would probably be able to speak some words (in Indonesian). But I think I will keep studying," Maggie said.

When asked what they expected after their meeting, the pen pals simply agreed that they did not want their friendship to end.

"When she goes home, I hope we still can communicate with each other. I don't want the friendship just to end here. Therefore, I'm doing my best to study English so I can also write a letter in the same language," said Nada.

As for the future, she said timidly, "I hope it will be my turn to help those in need there (Aceh)." Nada dreams of becoming a doctor one day.

The past few days leading up to the Aug. 17 celebrations have been one of the best times of Nada's life, not only because she met the person who has been there to help alleviate her loneliness, but also because she had been invited as a guest of the President himself.

"I'm so grateful to the President. It's because of him that I could meet Maggie," she told the Post on the eve of Independence Day.

Maggie smiled and added: "I was really excited to meet Nada for the first time. That was the one thing that I wanted to do most when I came here. I'm just happy."

Maggie and her parents visited Aceh on Aug. 18, after which they are scheduled to visit Medan and Yogyakarta. They will be here until Aug. 26, when Maggie flies back to the U.S., carrying home her new memories and experiences with Nada.

The Jakarta Post reporter Desy Nurhayati contributed to this story.

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