[REPORT] Death and Taxes in Yunnan

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By Gisa Hartmann

 

Last month, I went on my second trip to China for Asia
Catalyst. As we’ve previously discussed in this blog, Asia Catalyst is spending
several years “incubating” or building the internal management skills of
Phoenix, a nonprofit organization of sex workers living with HIV/AIDS. Phoenix
is based in Gejiu, Yunnan, on China’s borders with Vietnam. My main objective
during my two weeks there was to help Phoenix to develop their staff management
system, as well as improve their understanding of budgeting and financial
reporting. We spent an intense two weeks tracking down and discussing every
single receipt for the past two quarters.

 

One morning, as I was preparing for another day of office
work, I received a call on my cell asking me to come to the office as soon as
possible. The husband of a Phoenix member had died the previous day.

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[COMMENTARY] Bill Easterly’s Burden

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By Gregg Gonsalves
Yale University and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition

Comments at
The Future of Development:
Human Rights and International Aid Beyond the Economic Crisis
Robert L. Bernstein International Human Rights Fellowship Symposium
April 8-9, 2010
Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights
Yale Law School, 127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT

* * *
Good afternoon. Greetings from up on Science Hill, where I just got out of a
class on evolutionary biology. Permit me to use one analogy today–only because it seems so apt.  A new book by a fairly well-known philosopher named Jerry Fodor has just come out. It’s called What
Darwin Got Wrong. This isn’t some creationist tract. Dr. Fodor apparently believes in evolution, but he thinks Darwin erred by claiming natural selection is responsible for it.  The book hasn’t been well-received among scientists–not because we have a vested interest in this 150-year-old theory, but because the evidence supports natural selection and Dr. Fodor’s description of it only remotely resembles the phenomenon.

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[REPORT] Remembering an Innovative Rights Advocate

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IKON protest, Wahyu is far left with raised arm. The banner reads “prison is not a
solution for drug addicts.” Photo courtesy IKON.

By Anton Muhajir

 

After three weeks of hospitalization, Bali
and Indonesia’s best-known drug user rights advocate I Gusti Ngurah Wahyunda
passed away in early March. Wahyu, 31 years old, was the founder of the
Indonesian Drug User Solidarity Association (IDUSA) and coordinator of Ikatan
Korban Napza (IKON), a network of drug victims in Bali.

 

I honor him as a
friend, activist, and an innovative fighter who built a movement to defend the
human rights of drug users.

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In Memoriam: Ngr Wahyunda

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April 1, 1978 – March 6, 2010

After being treated for three weeks, I Gusti Ngurah Wahyunda (or Wahyu) died on March
6 at Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar, Bali. Wahyu
was the founder and coordinator of IKON Bali, a group of victims of narcotics,
psychotropic and other addictive substances that fights for the human rights of
that community, and the program manager of Yakeba, a Balinese harm reduction
organization.

Wahyu was himself a former injecting drug user who had undergone rehabilitation at
Yakeba. His experiences as a former IDU and his connections with fellow
survivors at national and international meetings led him to organize IDUs in
Bali to found IKON. Working with Wahyu, IKON has done ground-breaking research,
advocacy, outreach and media work on the
problem of police abuse against IDU in Bali.

In August 2009, Asia Catalyst spent a
week assisting Wahyu and colleagues at IKON with strategic planning. We also
joined together to host a candlelit barbecue party on the beach in Bali for 100
Asian AIDS advocates and their supporters. Wahyu was an inspiring leader, and a
warm and humorous friend and colleague; it was a privilege to work alongside
him, even for a short time. Our thoughts go out to his friends and family in Indonesia.

For more about IKON, please visit www.ikonbali.org.