the latest news from the field | May 2023 WITNESS Transformed Lives

Wahyudi* traced his way through the jungle back to his bamboo home. In the dimming light of dusk, he could see the orange ame underneath the wok balanced on several rocks outside the one-room dwelling where his wife cooked a spicy mixture of garlic, shallots, and chili peppers.

She looked up as he passed by, and Wahyudi watched as her eyes landed on the large bloody gash that ran diagonally from his left shoulder across his chest. She said nothing. She knew. They belonged to a poverty-stricken tribal group in a remote region on the island of Sumatra. Farming was the tribe’s main form of economic survival, but market prices for the produce they grew uctuated frequently, so they could never assume their income. Their pro ts ranged from small to miniscule.

Wahyudi couldn’t accept this way of life. Robbing people was typically much more profitable than farming…except when the victim was armed, as was his latest mark. The man had pulled a machete and deftly wounded Wahyudi before he could strike.

He spent the money he pocketed from successful muggings on drugs. He was an addict, and his wife had grown tired of the sight of him passed out in a hazy stupor or shooting up in front of their children. She’d spent decades waiting for him to change. He was in his 40s when she took the children and left…

(continued inside)