Portrait of Robin Lim

“By caring for the smallest citizens of Earth – babies at birth – we are building peace: one mother, one child, one family at a time.”

I was very honoured this evening to attend the 60th birthday party of Robin Lim and the inauguration of the new Yayasan Bumi Sehat Clinic in Ubud, Bali where I am traveling at the moment. What a warm welcome we received!

The food was incredible, the atmosphere was so joyful with children running around everywhere, many of them  were born at the clinic themselves. We even got to listen to the children from the Green School performing traditional South – African songs, my place of birth. I had no idea who Robin Lim was before this evening yet got a chance to meet her briefly and could just instantly feel that I was in the presence of greatness.

As things tend to happen in Bali it seems..a new found friend Helena Hentz a Doula herself based in Perth (Dreambirth, hypnobirth) invited me to come along with her to this magical event. She also started to tell me a bit more about her work and why Robin Lim, also know as Mamma Bali is such an inspiration to her as a midwife and is so honoured  in the birthing community in general.

She was awarded the CNN Hero of the year award in 2011. An advocate for parental rights. Babies are often held by hospitals in Indonesia, until payment is made for birthing services. Parents sometimes in desperation relinquish their rights and place their babies up for adoption.

Lim’s birthing sanctuaries offer free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid to anyone who needs it in Indonesia, where the average family earns the equivalent of $8 a day, and a normal hospital delivery without complications costs around $150.

Ibu Robin Lim is a Filipino–American midwife, mother, grandmother, and founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a nonprofit organization that provides free maternity care for pregnant women, mothers and their babies, plus healthcare for all those in need.

Born in the Philippines in 1956, Robin decided to become a midwife in 1991, when her sister and niece tragically died during childbirth.

She qualified as a midwife in the United States and Indonesia, and founded the Bumi Sehat Foundation International in Bali, Indonesia.

Bumi Sehat (which translates to “healthy mother earth”) operates clinics in Bali, Sumatra Island Aceh, Papua and the Philippines, as well as temporary clinics in disaster areas around the world such as Haiti and Nepal. Through the foundation, Robin trains and inspires more than 6,000 midwives and nurses per year, and over 300,000 people have benefitted from Bumi Sehat’s services to date.

The high maternal and infant mortality rates are caused in part by these costs, which many women cannot meet. In turn, their lives and the lives of their babies are at risk.

This new version of the birthing clinic has been enlarged and upgraded thanks to donations and fundraisers. It started in 2003, with help from the Balinese community and donations from friends across the globe. The results are wonderful, with more birthing rooms and better conditions for everybody.

While some Indonesian celebrities and expatriates from all over the world choose Bumi Sehat to birth their children, they often give donations. Enabling the other  80% of families served by the clinics, that can barely pay anything to be helped for free.

Philosophy “Bumi Sehat means Healthy Earth Mother. We believe that access to quality healthcare and to kind, hygienic, culturally appropriate childbirth is a human right. We believe that each individual is an essential societal component of peace. By caring for the smallest citizens of Earth – babies at birth – we are building peace: one mother, one child, one family at a time. We are devoted to working in partnership with people to improve quality of life and to encourage peace. This is our mission and vision. Join us …”

Robin Lim you were such an inspiration to me today. I feel that woman like her and their work should be known, honoured and shared as an example of love and care for a better world…thank you Helena for the invitation.

http://www.bumisehatfoundation.org