At the age of four, Raudhatul Jannah was swept away from her Indonesian home in the West Aceh district (Aceh Province) on December 26^th, 2004 by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Her disappearance caused her family to believe that she was dead. Now, ten years later, she has been reunited with both of her parents. 

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A determined search for Raudhatul lasted for a month before her parents lost hope for finding their children alive and together. Both parents would have continued to believe this to be true had it not been for Raudhatul's maternal uncle recently discovering a young girl who greatly resembled his niece. Upon seeing the girl for herself, Raudhatul's mother, Jamaliah, claimed that she knew the girl had to be her daughter.

After the discovery was made in June, Raudhatul's family became aware of the fact that an elderly woman had been acting as the girl's guardian. The two lived together in the neighboring Aceh Barat Daya district.

However, Raudhatul was not the only one in her family to be taken by the storm; her seven-year-old brother had been snatched away by the tsunami's waves alongside her. Their family had been situated close by to the tsunami's origin on Sumatra Island. The tsunami had been triggered by an extreme earthquake on the island, taking the lives of 230,000 people from 14 other countries. Raudhatul and her brother were among the many Aceh residents who fought to stay above the waves; 170,000 lives had been taken in Aceh alone. The pair had been holding on to Jamaliah and her husband before slipping from their grasp, clutching onto a nearby plank of wood to help the two of them stay afloat.

Despite being parted from her brother, Raudhatul believes that her brother is still alive as well. The storm had left the two stranded together on the nearly deserted Banyak Island, which is just off the western coastal line of Aceh Province - approximately 25 miles away.

Now that she has been reunited with her long lost daughter, Jamaliah is determined to find her son and for her entire family to be together again. 

TagsIndonesia, Tsunami, Raudhatul Jannah, Jamaliah Jannah, Banyak Island, Sumatra Island, Aceh