On November 11, Aceh’s Marlina (16) could smile for the first time after one long suffering year of having a bullet lodged in her head. How did she get a bullet in her head we hear you ask?

It was at 11 AM, July 8, 2004, when Marlina and elder sister Ani were cooking at the family’s kitchen behind the house. All of a sudden they heard an intense shooting within 1 km distance. Long before the nonstop natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes, Aceh had been an area troubled with constant clashes between the Indonesian army and GAM (Free Aceh Movement). During that period, shooting was more like daily incident for the Acehnese; and also for Marlina. She lived with her family in a village, 257 km from the city of Banda Aceh.

At that time, she and Ani ran inside their house for a shelter when the shooting became more extreme. The whole family then burrowed in fear until the noise ceased. Marlina hurriedly went back to the kitchen to check her cooking. Another shot was heard shortly after, at which point her mother shouted for her to come back inside. But it was too late. For Marlina had lost her consciousness and fell down on the floor. Blood spilled out of her head, colored her clothes in red. Her mother grew feeble at the sight.

Ani knew what to do. She carried her little sister to the bed and walked her to the nearest medical center when Marlina awakened. The street was empty still empty. People chose to hide themselves inside their house after the gunfire. The two girls too were afraid, but they strengthened their mind. Ani told her younger sibling that she would bear a bullet herself, as long as Marlina could make it to the medical center. The poor girl had to grit her teeth for pain as they walked step by step. Luckily, they met a cousin who was then willing to accompany them; and afterwards an army commander lent his motorbike.

But Marlina’s suffering was far from over. The health center had inadequate means for treating her that she was rushed to Fauziah Hospital in Bireun. A nurse explained that a small operation would help the girl, but the family could not afford it. Several people suggested them to go to Cut Mutiah Hospital where they would treat conflict victims for free. Hurriedly they went there, and she was eventually operated the next day—only to know that the doctors found no bullet. Marlina suffered constant pain and headache afterwards.

The family was not idle meanwhile. To cover her $ 3,500 USD operation, her mother sold the family heirloom—a small coconut field; and borrowed cash from the neighbors. Three days later she was operated in Zainal Abidin Hospital, Banda Aceh: the doctors could not find the bullet still. Desperate, she was transferred to the Adam Malik Hospital in Medan; but because of financial problem she was taken back home for a week until her family collected more debt.

When she was back in Medan, the hospital suggested her to be operated in Malaysia. The family grew more hopeless. They decided that they would simply cut all the medication and treated Marlina at home. Since then she stayed at home and did her normal activities with a bullet inside her head. The wound sometimes discharged thick pus accompanied by blood; making it hard for her to concentrate on her studies. “When the pain strikes, it really hurts. I take painkillers regularly to neutralize the pain,” said she.

And help came when a journalist from the Jakarta Post who saw her and wrote her trouble on October 12. The Indonesian Brain Foundation, the Sukma Foundation could finally get her operated in Jakarta on November 11, 2005—a year after the shooting took place. After 3 hour of operation, a team of doctors in the Siloam Gleneagles Hospital managed to remove the 1.5-centimeter-long, 3-millimeter-diameter projectile from the back of her back brain. “From 1 to 5, the bullet inside her head could be categorized into 4,” the leader of the team said.

Marlina, no longer had the headache, said she was ready to go back to school and wished to go home as soon as possible to eat her mother’s cooking. “I want to eat my mother’s cooking: milk fish in thick coconut milk sauce,” she said joyfully.