A Visit With Ibu Robin Lim, Midwife, Ubud, Bali

Ibu Robin Lim, Midwife
Founder Of Bumi Sehat Foundation.

A visit to the clinic and later having lunch with Ibu Robin at her home nearby,
made for a wonderfully, pleasant day for me.

She is an American midwife, the founder of Bumi Sehat Foundation offering free
medical care for Balinese pregnant women and their children, free deliveries with
trained midwives, and general care families. Working for the clinic, there are up to
9 midwives, 10 delivery beds and occasional volunteers that are western healthcare
professionals.

Today when I called Ibu Robin at mid morning, she invited me to hurry for the delivery
that was about to happen..  Although I rushed to the clinic as quickly as I could, it was
a false alarm for me, as the woman was not going to deliver until much later.

Back in 2004, when I called Ibu Robin, I was greatly honored to assist her with the
delivery of 2 babies at her clinic.   Because for me, it was so fascinating, I will include
it in my next post.

Later in 2011, Ibu Robin was honored the  CNN Hero Award Of The Year, receiving
world recognition and much needed money for the clinic.

For today's visit, I brought her a bag of donations, including baby toys, cotton baby
blankets, children's vitamins, baby hair combs/brushes, and little animal plastic
containers with lids and a little chocolate for Ibu Robin.
It was fun for me to collect these items before I left on my trip to Bali.
In the past, I tried to bring a suitcase of donated medicines from the states, but they
were unfortunately confiscated at the Denpasar airport customs.





Ibu Robin is giving a lecture to a group of doulas while I demonstrate a baby doll
that  has an attached umbilical cord and placenta.  (the placenta is hiding)


When I arrived today, Ibu Robin was lecturing  a group of young midwives and doulas from the United States, sharing  about her missions and interesting experiences of starting up new disaster clinics and of training midwives. It included her experiences in Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia after the earthquake/tsunami 2004, setting up the first midwife clinic in Haiti after the earthquake / choleraepidemic 2010 and most recently in the Philippines after the earthquake and typhoon 2013.

 

Ibu Robin may leave the umbilical cord and placenta attached for several hours to benefit the newborn with extra oxygen, improved immunity and continued bonding.  "Lotus birth" is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after childbirth so that the baby is left attached to the placenta until the cord naturally separates at the umbilicus, usually a few days after birth. This is rare in western culture.



 

 

A Couple of Questions I asked Ibu Robin:

1. How does her family in Bali cope with her being gone so much of the time?  She has 8
children (now grown up) and one newly adopted Balinese child.   She said they cope well,
support her work, live within a short bicycle distance from the clinic so they can have lunch
together.  At times, her husband and children have joined her on international trips to help
her on various missions.   

2. Has she had ever gotten sick during her times away?  She said "yes".  Once, she had to be helicoptered out of the Philippines with serious smoke inhalation respiratory problems.
But she didn't really want to elaborate on her own issues and instead continued to focus on
the health problems during disasters around the world.

Going Home - A Little Bit Of Bliss

At the end of my visit,  her clinic staff guy gave me a  motorbike ride back to my homestay,
which meant a ride weaving on paths through the Monkey Forest, which was a magically,
surreal ride!   For me, it was like taking an exciting Disneyland ride, feeling completely free
and safe, while whizzing past stone temples and hundreds of monkeys (Balinese hanuman
gods) playing along side of the trails.  I hung on steadily and grinned at them with delight,
knowing this time, they couldn't jump on me or steal my goodies. 

All the while, I was impregnated with feelings of bliss.

And a glow of fertility

 
        "CNN Hero of the Year". YouTube. 

         "'Mother Robin' wins CNN Hero of the Year - CNN.com". CNN. 

          Bumi Sehat Foundation International website

          Robin Lim Support
         

The New and The Old, Ubud, Bali

The New:
Starbucks is Alive and Well Nearby the Royal Family Property.

Street view of Starbuck.  The building used to be an old warehouse and Starbucks had agreed
to keep it much the same, so that it would blend in with the other neighboring buildings.  Ubud
residents fought to keep out McDonalds and Burger King.



Starbucks and it's "Gong" at the quiet side entryway, Ubud, Bali

There is a open area in the back of Starbucks with a fantastic view
of the lotus pond and a temple that has evening dance performance.
 

While there are spontaneous processions on the main road,  Starbucks is open on the
main road, with A-C and Wi-Fi.  As representing the "new",
"Starbucks" is located near the  property of the Ubud royal family,
where the last  king's descendants currently live in Javanese teak houses and where
there is a beautiful temple that has evening shows.  Tourists are welcome to wander
about the property and if you are lucky, a member of the royal family might tour you
around.  At one time in history, the king (raja) had up to 50 wives in their attempt to
procreate many sons.  Can you imagine all 50 of the King's wives having a
latte break at Starbucks? Even now, there are some Balinese men who have multiple
wives.

I noticed that prices are about the same price as at home and because it is expensive,
you wont see many Balinese inside having coffee.  Besides, the Balinese prefer to
drink either ginger tea or their thick syrupy "Bali coffee".  I wasn't forewarned and
discover that  the traditional Bali coffee is finely ground, poorly filtered and just plain
thick, especially at the bottom. It is bound to make you jittery and will stain the fine
grooves of  your teeth. 


The New:
Organik Sari Restaurant...

Hurry to enjoy . .....I noticed new places popping up, new housing and shops. There
are several other restaurants lining up, all great views.  Soon, the rice paddies will be
littered with shops and restaurants.

Organik Sari Restaurant:   This one is in middle of the rice paddy area at the end of
Jl Kajeng has several restaurants with a view. It has it's own organic garden and an
awesome view of the rice paddies.  There are two ways to arrive at Organik Sari
and  each one is a good 20 minute  walk in the heat.  On the walk you will see other
construction going on, such as in the building of new houses.

Organic green feta tomato salad and a green cleansing drink.

  

The Old:

Views Within One or Two Blocks Of Starbucks

 

I'm guessing that is a pot of rice on her head with other food items for sale to the Balinese.
She is going to set up shop somewhere......life can be a struggle.

 

  

"We're buddies forever" - Ubud, Bali

"I ate the whole bowl of popcorn and now there's a kernel in my throat" - Ubud, Bali

Royal Family and Religious Procession, Ubud, Bali

A Rare Opportunity

The week leading up to October 8 was a rare opportunity to witness a  major religious
at the historic Gunung Lebah temple, in the Campuhan area.  Hundreds of Hindu
devotees from across the island, as well as from Java and Lombok,  have descended
on Ubud. It was a 200m hot steamy walk from the main road down to an area near
two sacred streams of water.

This temple has been renewed and upgraded all throughout the year, with a beautiful
result, funded by the Ubud Royal Family.  The Procession stopped in front of the
Royal Family home for prayers of gratitude  for all of their dedication and financial
help.

There was a large temple dedication and purification ritual coupled with sacrificial
rituals to appease nature’s spirits. This temple was sanctified to serve as an important
temple, as a throne of the divine.  ( I did not witness that  there were animals sacrificed,
but I was told it happened) After the prayers and ceremonies, the animals are killed and
blessed, which  elevates them on the karmic ladder to a higher incarnation.
Later the family will eat the food which has been blessed by the Gods.




Walking on a white cloth of marigold flower petals




Bali customs are strong, even as their lives are changing with technology and tourism.
 A beautiful event, framed by motorcycles

 

 

Such beauty...... Such joy.......True Balinese Spirit

 

A lady appears to be  in trance, dancing to her own tune


 

 

The Parading of the Rangdas, Queen of Witches
 She has both white and black hair, popping eyes, fangled teeth and a wild hairdo.  She is known to represent evil and often fights against the mythical figure the Barong, in Balinese dance.  She is also known to eat small children and a scary figure. 
But the Balinese revere her, accept and appease her, including all that is evil and all that is good.
They consider her part of the balance of life.
 

The Past and The Present - 8 Changes In Ubud, Bali

1. There are motorbikes everywhere, perhaps 3 times as many as it there were 10
years ago, and at times they are double parked along the main Ubud roads of Jalan Raya and Monkey Forest Road.  I’m sad to say it is so busy and crazy as a pedestrian to cross most of the streets, that there is always a nagging fear of being hit.  Shockingly, in addition to 4 people on a motorbike without helmets, I’ve
even witnessed "texting and driving” while on their motorcycles.  

The accident rate is high and I am told there are 5000 deaths a year in Bali due to motorbikes.  The medical facilities may have improved a little over the years, but
they are still few and far between, with limited supplies, and more importantly,
limited knowledge which results  in negligent treatment.

Because of the motorbikes, I had to use a different crossing the road technique:  Wait until a Balinese (preferably a large guy) stands at the side of the road intending
to cross the road.   Then I stand close to him, using hand motions of wanting to cross with him.  Suddenly, the Balinese testosterone kicks in, he makes a bold hand
gesture to the cars bringing the traffic to a dead stop, and then we cross quickly.

 

I used to hear melodies of the gamelan band while they were practicing and playing from many blocks away.  Also there was the sound of the Balinese when they sing
in the shower or take a “mandi” baths.  (the baths they take by rhythmically pouring
a large cup of water over their heads)  Now I only  hear a constant buzz of traffic
and I think it might be time to head for the country!

2. There are a lot more tourists, more of the high end tourists from China and Japan, looking to make luxury purchases.

Money has poured into Bali and the people here seem quite happy about it, which of course improves their lifestyle.  Many of the older Balinese will admit higher stress now that they no longer have their relaxed lifestyles.  Many have smartphones, but at least, most of them seem to have cell phones, which was not the case 10 years ago.
My guess is that  they still live in a small house, perhaps even with dirt floors.
 

3. The side walks have improved, although there are still plenty of broken cement areas, some open pits you must step over, and there is the occasional wave of
sewage odor that hits you, as you might grimace.

4. Garbage has improved with real containers, instead of the past heaps and piles at random messy locations.  Occasionally, I saw small trash  cans labeled  "organic"
and "inorganic".   Restaurants are fancier, diverse and the menus are exotic and
more varied.  Some of my old haunts /food warungs are non existent, gone, just
mysteriously disappeared.   However, you won't see me complaining when I find a new organic restaurant out in the rice paddies, one with a long stretched peaceful view. 

5. Hotels have overbuilt and therefore there are higher vacancies.
I wonder how they manage.......and then I remind myself as to how cheap it is for
them to live simply .  I'm told that the rice paddies are rapidly disappearing and
that existing farmers are extremely poor.  Sadly the culture is shrinking and one
by one, the traditional Balinese homestays (like the one I am in) are being
replaced by hotels.

6. Free decent Wi-Fi is common at most hotel and restaurants, making it
somewhat possible to have an online business here although the signal wavers throughout the day.  It sure does beat the old "dial up" internet.

7. Ceremonies are still being done, which is encouraging, but is it just my
imagination that the offerings given at the family home temples, are done in a simplified version, that is....in a rush??   I can certainly understand how time consuming it is to make the offerings and do the daily offerings.  Due to
community pressure, the Balinese do not really have a choice about the many
hours a day they spend in making and performing the rituals. If they don't
conform with the offerings, it  would be frowned upon and they would have
bad karma.


 

Danger At The Dirty Duck Diner, Ubud, Bali

Danger At The Dirty Duck Diner

A yummy, relaxing lunch ended up being embarrassing and
painful, but the experience and insights I received, were actually
positive for me.

I took the long walk down Monkey Forest Rd, curving past the
Monkey Forest entrance and taking a left onto Hanoman Rd, to
end up at a favorite restaurant of mine. The Bebek Bengil (Dirty
Duck Diner)  is historically famous for it's delicious deep fried,
"Crispy Duck" and the relaxed, laid back view of the surrounding
rice paddies.
bebekbengil.com




Famous Crispy Duck, Dirty Duck Diner, Ubud, Bali



Frog Fountain Bebek Bengil, Ubud, Bali

 

During the prior weeks, before my departure to Bali, I had
carefully nursed a sore foot back to health with liniments and
a pair of good walking shoes.  The hip was acting up also,
but that's another story and it was only temporary.

 

You would think then everything is fine?
But no.





Entryway, Dirty Duck Diner, Ubud, Bali

  

After finishing a tasty "Crispy Duck" and thick mango lassi, I
exited the diner  to the street sidewalk, stepped onto an uneven crack
and without further warning, stumbled to a hard landing on the
cement. You would have thought I had a few beers!

Reminiscing about it now, I will sometimes smile and feel a bit of
pride, because I feel that my fall was gracefully done. I almost always
do things gracefully without even trying. However, aside from
looking good, the ugly reality was that I twisted  my left ankle and
banged up my right patella bone (knee) as I landed onto the cement.
 

Immediately after it happened, three eager to help, cute Balinese
guys hovered over me, pulled both my arms to spring me up to
my feet.  My first thought was,

"Am I Looking Bad For The “Dirty Duck Diner"?
 

At first,  I was surprised I could walk fine and I was actually feeling
a bit frisky:)  But shortly afterwards, the knee was giving away to
pain and it felt like I might collapse.  I quickly reflected on the long
walk back, complete with  dirt paths and broken up sidewalks.

Funny how instincts can kick in.

When I saw a nice young man, aged 30 or so, riding his motorcycle
and going in the direction of my homestay, I simply pointed to my
knee, grimaced my face and with my best smile, I bummed a ride.
 

The Balinese rarely refuse, so in a minute of time,  I had wedged
myself onto back of his motorcycle and we took off.   I didn't think
much about safety, until after afterwards and then I was aware that
he wore a helmet and I didn’t.
 

Halfway back to my homestay, the Bali guy decided to take a little
diversion that worried me and stopped abruptly at a construction
site. Apparently, he needed to report to his boss before taking me
home!

 

The good news is that we made it back safely, although I was
freaking out on a busy stretch of road, crowded with weaving
motorbikes.  I guess I've worked too many years as a nurse and
have seen my share of bloody head injuries.

When he finally deposited me back at my homestay, he shook his
head adamantly to my offer of 40 rupiahs. (a bit over $3.00 U.S.)
But after twisting his arm a little bit, he smiled and took the cash.
Of course,  I was more than grateful to him for the ride home. 
The Balinese always seem happy to help, almost as if they know
that they are adding to their own good karma.

 

A few days later, my bruised up ankle and knee were back to
normal.

Ok, My Intentions Are Good.....But

I thought perhaps, I might spend an hour weaving together some
offerings, add creative placement of flowers and food, wrap a
tight sarong around my ample hips, add a sash and a see through
lace cabaya blouse, then balance the basket of offerings on my
head, while walking the long hot road to the Campuan temple. 

There I'd kneel and bow down at the temple, light some incense,
and offer prayers of gratitude for my quick recovery. Then after
being sprinkled by holy water from the priest and sipping the water
pours into my cupped hands, I'd  paste a few kernels of sticky  rice
onto my forehead, tuck a white flower behind my ear and trek back
up the hill back to my homestay.  Of course, I'd arrive drenched
and dripping wet with perspiration. And then, if I were Balinese,
I'd spend the remainder of the day making more offerings,
cleaning floors, shopping  and preparing food for the family.

It certainly was a good thought to make the trip to the temple,
even a holy thought.
But...... the action did not take place.

And right then, I was grateful, I wasn't a Balinese woman.

 

Saraswati Day of Knowledge and Wisdom, Ubud, Bali

On Oct 4, it was the day of Saraswati, celebration of the Hindu goddess of education and wisdom.  The Balinese people bring offerings to their holy books in their house, while students celebrate in school, and office workers in their office, as well as celebrating at their outdoor temples. The philosophy behind the day of  Saraswati is that the most important thing for human life is knowledge. www.balispirit.com/events Twenty five years ago, I first visited Bali during the same week of the Saraswati celebration and it seems now, that I have come full circle. The ambience 25 years ago was very quiet and simple, the rice paddies stretched out forever,  with mostly basic cold water bungalows,  hand carved wood and silver treasures,  minus the added high end clothing shops and rich tourists lingering around. It is hard for me to accept the changes, but it seems to me that there are many more pure souls here than there are at home in the San Francisco Bay area.  Bali is definitely a one of a kind place in the world. After breakfast, I decided to get dressed and walk to the temple for the Saraswati ceremony. When I tried on my golden colored,  lace cabaya traditional Bali blouse from 25 years ago, I was annoyed that it was too tight!   I was trying to figure out if I had become more busty or if the brownies and black rice pudding were catching up with me?   Regardless, I gave up wearing it and quickly improvised with a white blouse,  wrapped myself tight with a sarong and added a waist scarf.  After walking 15 minutes in the intense heat shaded by my broken umbrella, I walked the path down hill to a beautiful temple with stacked high hand made offerings everywhere.  I didn't mind that there were several students that wanted to hang out and practice their English. They used their cell phones to snap photos of us together. The Balinese were slowly arriving with baskets of offering on their heads and began to kneel down in prayer.  The priest dressed in white rang his bell loudly in an old familiar twang and his assistants poured holy water into cupped hands for sipping and then there was the flicking of holy water onto their heads.   There was still an orchestra of roosters crowing and combined with  the smell of incense.   For me, it was surreal to be experiencing this again, almost like it was my first day in Bali so many years ago. Afterwards, I wished I had worn shorts underneath, so that I could peel off the hot and sticky, restricting sarong and be free of it.   So far, everyday that I've been here, it has felt like being in a sauna with  the sweat rolling off my face and down the front of my chest. When I finally arrived at my homestay, the tiny swimming pool was waiting for me, and I happily eased myself into the cool, refreshing water.