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.
