New CNN hero 'Very Filipino'
by Desiree Caluza

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THE CNN (Cable News Network) website described her as “an American woman who has helped thousands of poor Indonesian women have a healthy pregnancy and birth.”
But to relatives in Baguio City, Robin Lim, the CNN Hero of the Year for 2011, is “very Filipino”.
The 54-year-old Filipino-American midwife, fondly called Mother Robin or Ibu Robin, drew applause for her work in the Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation) health clinics in Indonesia, which extend prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid to impoverished women. She particularly promoted traditional healing practices and offered her services in Nyuh Kuning, a small village on Bali island.
Named this year’s hero by the American cable news channel after an 11-week vote on CNN.com, Lim will receive $250,000 for her foundation, on top of the $50,000 she and other honorees got for making it to the Top 10.
Lim is the second honoree of Filipino descent to be included in CNN’s roster of heroes.
In 2009, educator and social worker Efren Peñaflorida Jr. was named CNN Hero of the Year for his exceptional advocacy of educating Filipino out-of-school youths through his so-called “pushcart classes.” Peñaflorida, who grew up in the slums of Cavite province, founded the Dynamic Teen Company, which also supported Lim’s nomination.
In one of her letters to the Inquirer Northern Luzon Bureau, Lim described her campaign for the CNN Hero title as a crusade she made on behalf of every mother in the world.

True heroines

“My CNN nomination is for the new mothers, who give birth in small dimly lit rooms all over our planet day and night,” she wrote in a letter dated Oct. 17. “They are the true heroines. When I ask people to vote for me, I know it is not for me… I want it for them.”
Lim accepted her award on Dec. 12 in an event dubbed “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
“Lim’s nomination and selection as CNN Hero of the Year is a victory for all of us because she is so proud of her Filipino ancestry. Her mother was born in Baguio. Her late maternal grandmother, Vicenta Munar Lim—whom she idolized—is pure Filipino,” according to Robin’s cousin, Remy Lim.
Remy said Lim often gave credit to her grandmother, Nanang Vicenta, a midwife who served in Baguio during World War II, in all the literature about the nonprofit, village-based organization that she organized in 2003.
Lim’s family in the Philippines had also campaigned for her bid in the CNN search through social networking sites, Remy added.

Guerilla Midwife

Part of the campaign was last month’s showing of the film Guerrilla Midwife, a documentary about Lim’s natural child birth advocacy, at the Mt. Cloud Bookshop on Baguio’s Session Road.
“Much love and big congratulations to Robin Lim!” Mt. Cloud said in a message posted on its Facebook account.
The company also invited the public to get “more insights into Robin’s life” by reading her novel, Butterfly People. Launched by Lim at the bookshop in November last year, the novel set in Baguio City is based on the life of her grandmother and their family’s history, it added.
“We hope that with her winning the CNN Hero title, Robin will be able to pursue her dream of putting up a clinic in Baguio… I hope that the people here will support her if she ever pursues her dream,” Remy said.

Safe and loving birth

At the rites in Los Angeles, Lim accepted her award from the host, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, and called on the public to promote “safe and loving birth.”
“Today on our Earth, 981 mothers in the prime of their life will die… I’m asking you to help change that. Every baby’s first breath could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving, but our world is not there yet,” she said.
Lim also noted that the high maternal and infant mortality rates in Indonesia, for example, were due to medical costs rising beyond the reach of many women.
In a CNN interview earlier this year, Lim said: “The situation is bad … babies are unattended, deliveries have become commercialized and mothers die from hemorrhage after childbirth because they can’t afford proper care.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer)