A bloody dawn in widow village

Julie Snowden is not an ordinary journalist. I first learned of her from a documentary that aired on a pay television channel. Since then, I have admired her work and hoped to one day convince her to cover a story in my hometown of Aceh.

I contacted Snowden via email using the address I found on the website of the media company where she worked. My message was brief: “You would find many great stories in Aceh.”

Normally, I would write a long and detailed introduction when contacting someone, explaining why I believe my email deserves a reply. However, in this case, I felt that my message was clear and concise.

I checked my email three times a day for two months, hoping for a reply from Snowden. After two years of waiting, I had begun to forget about the email.

In early March 1998, I was assigned to research a local farmer organization in Pekalongan, a city in Central Java. The email I received stated that the research assignment would take two months. I was sure that I would be too busy to surf the internet for fun, as I often did in Jakarta. The internet connection in Pekalongan was not very good, so I would be forced to focus on my work. I would not have time to play Friendster, let alone check my email for a reply from Snowden.