Impact Stories
LIFE JOURNEYS OF THE IMPACT HEROES
BEHIND THEIR RELENTLESS FIGHTSINDEX
Founders’ Message ������������ 3
Our Support���������������� 4
Impact Hero 2015 Bella Galhos������� 6
Impact Hero 2016 Robin Lim �������� 18
Impact Hero 2017 Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner���� 30
Impact Hero 2019 Wai Wai Nu ������� 42
Impact Hero 2021 Arief Rabik ������� 54

02

FOUNDERS’ MESSAGE
We first met Bella Galhos in Hawai’i in 2008. Convinced that Bella would become an
influential figure in her own country Timor-Leste, we made a commitment to support
Bella whenever she decided to take real action.
Six years later Bella told us her vision of Leublora Green Village in rural Timor, and we
immediately started supporting her believing in the importance and necessity of suchan environmental initiative. This is how Earth Company was founded. We had no paid
staff, but just a few volunteers helping us; we hadn’t even coined the term “Impact
Heroes”. We became part of Bella’s team and did everything in our capacity to help
her dream come true. This is how the Impact Hero program started.
Our motivation to support Bella was simple. We were inspired and moved by Bella’s life.
She is a former child soldier, has 43 siblings, and fled to Canada in a Hollywood movielike manner. She shared her life stories with smiles, tears, and laughter. She expressed
her bottomless passion with her small body through her husky voice.
Her words carry weight because they come from first-hand experience. She was oncethe victim of injustice and violence - the very things she now fights against on behalf ofeveryone else. Her conviction moves people because she is driven by hope and love.
Her past is scarred by the Indonesian occupation but she now dedicates her life to the
future of Timor. She inspires people not through beautiful pitch decks, but through her
riveting experiences, steadfast commitment, and brave action.
It’s people like Bella who can mobilize communities and change societies. We believe inthem. We support them. We call them Impact Heroes.
In the past five years, we have used every opportunity to promote the important work of
our Impact Heroes. But perhaps we haven’t been able to tell their life stories as much.
This is why we created this publication.
If their life stories touch you in any way, we hope you join our journey to support them and future Impact Heroes like them.
Aska & Tomo Hamakawa
Earth Company in a nutshell:
Based in Japan and Indonesia, Earth Company is an impact-driven social enterprisethat creates regenerative futures through the provision of transformational support tochange-makers, delivery of inspiring SDGs training programs, and management of anext generation eco hotel in Ubud, Bali. The first initiative - Impact Heroes - selects aone-of-a-kind impact-maker each year and provides holistic, customized support tohim/her over a three-year period. In the past seven years, Earth Company has raised a
total of US$2 million for the Impact Heroes and, through their work, has impacted over 1
million people's lives.
03

1

OUR SUPPORT
Overview of the activities of our Impact Heroes– exceptional change-makers in the Asia-Pacificcarefully selected by Earth Company.

Impact Hero 2015
Bella Galhos
Country: Timor-Leste
Organization: Leublora Green School /Leublora Green Village
Cause: Empower youth and women in rural
Timor through environmental education,organic farming, and ecotourism byleveraging rural resources.
Funds raised: 135K USD
Our support: Funding for the establishment ofTimor-Leste’s first green school, eco-tourism
based villas; two-year salaries of the school’steachers; promotional materials such asa website, a short film and a promotional
video; nonprofit management skills trainings
on fundraising, marketing and data
management
3

4

5

1
2

04

2

3

Impact Hero 2016
Robin Lim

Impact Hero 2017
Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

Country: Indonesia / Philippines
Organization: Bumi Sehat Foundation
Cause: Deliver gentle, high-quality
reproductive and primary healthcare forfree to vulnerable families in Indonesia andbeyondFunds raised: 315K USD
Our support: Funding for the establishment of
new birth clinic in Bali, Papua, and Palawan
Island in the Philippines as well as youth
center / evacuation center in Bali; disaster
relief activities in 3 locations; soliciting
monthly donations worth $30K annually

Country: Marshall Islands
Organization: Jo-Jikum
Cause: Empower next-generation youth
leaders in the Marshalls and Pacific Islands
to rise up against the climate crisis andnavigate their complex futures
Funds raised: 144K USD
Our support: Funding for the establishment
of Jo-Jikum Youth Center; core funding;Japan fundraising tour; COP22 participation
support; NGO management consulting

45

Impact Hero 2019
Wai Wai Nu

Impact Hero 2021
Arief Rabik

Country: Myammar
Organization: Women Peace Network
Cause: Building peace, justice and social
equality in Myanmar through empowerment,
education and advocacy
Funds raised: 137K USD
Our support: Providing core funding for
the Yangon Youth Leadership Center,funding advocacy work post military coup,and supporting the set-up of a nonprofit
organization in the U.S. such as developing
the mission statement, organizational
structure, logo and other marketing materials

Country: Indonesia
Organization: Environmental Bamboo
Foundation (EBF)
Cause: Taking on a massive vision to build1000 bamboo villages as a breakthroughsolution to some of the world’s pressing issues:land degradation, climate change, rural
poverty, and gender inequality.
Our support: Providing support to thedevelopment of a major grant proposal andexploring business opportunities in Japan andbeyond05

Impact Hero 2015

Bella Galhos
Environmental & Political Activist
A Fearless Female Leader Transforming the
Future of Timor-Leste
Decades of conflict have left half of the population ofTimor-Leste in extreme poverty. Bella founded Green School
to transform Timor-Leste’s underprivileged children intogreen leaders who will navigate the young oil-dependent
country to a sustainable future. The Leublora Green Village
has now grown to become a model for eco-tourism andrural development. She plans to run for the country’s 2022
presidential election. If elected, she will become the firstLGBT president in Asia. She stands as a beacon of change
for a wide variety of social issues.
06

478
Total 2018 Children
who has learned
at Green School

2078
Total 2018 visitors
to Green School

BELLA’S STORYGROWING UP UNDER INDONESIAN OCCUPATIONI was born in Timor-Leste in 1972 during the final years of the 450-year
Portuguese rule. When I was three years old, the Indonesian army
invaded Timor-Leste and ended up occupying the country for 24
years. An estimated 300,000 people died in my country. Two of mysix siblings died due to starvation. My father was abducted and imprisoned. Life was hard to say the least.
Under the Indonesian rule, our daily lives were riddled with violence.
The Indonesian army came to our elementary school numerous
times, and we girls were coerced into accepting sterilisation procedures. We were too young and frail, and our physical resistance
didn’t matter.
Violence pervaded our homes as well. My father often harmed mymother. Disliking my boyish mischief, he was violent towards me too.
We were never loved by him. He often beat me on small pretexts. I
remember once he put oil on my body, tied my hands, and made melie down on the ground full of ants. I can still feel the pain to this day.
Seeing no value in a mischievous daughter, my father tried to sell me
for five dollars to the Indonesian army. It was my mother who risked
her life to save me from being sold off. Infuriated by her interjection,
my father pierced a nail in her upper thigh. I vividly remember removing the rusty piece of metal from her thin leg while we both cried.
My father’s violence towards my mother, myself, and my sisters neverceased.
Domestic violence was not uncommon in the country, but it was taken
to an unbearable level in my family. Convinced she would not survive
the escalating violence, my mother took a bold move to divorce myfather. At the time, a wife-led divorce was unheard of. This required
tremendous courage, but my mother was determined and took theleap forward.
Her courage stays with me. I have faced countless adversities in mylife; every time, I remember her courage. My mother overcame such
hard times in her life. If she could do it, I can too.
Growing up in a country where violence was the norm, I yearned for07

life without it. I dreamt of a country free of violence.

I BARELY SURVIVED THE BIGGEST MASSACREAt the age of 16, I joined the underground movement for free Timor. I was the only
woman in the movement since my culture expects women to tend to their homes andraise children. Despite being an anomaly and facing opposition, I was committed tomy people.
On one day in November 1991, a tragedy struck my country. That day, many activists including me - were taking part in an independence demonstration in our capital city
Dili, and the Indonesian army started firing indiscriminately killing 270 people. Many of
my dear friends fell prey to bullets. I was miraculously saved by a foreign journalist who
happened to be there. When I lost my friends that day, I became convinced that I
would also be killed if I stayed in the country. For survival, I began plotting my escape.

WHATEVER IT TAKES TO ESCAPE HELL
Under the Indonesian rule, however, no Timorese were allowed to travel outside thecountry. Except for one way: to join the Indonesian military and be dispatched as an
exchange student. And so I joined the Youth Military Program in my college, the National University of Timor-Leste. I decided on this despite - or rather because of - my continued involvement in the independence movement. Many Timorese led such a double
life back then, mainly to disguise their patriotism from the Indonesian authorities.
Being part of Indonesian military was not easy. In fact, it was hell. To test my loyalty towards Indonesia, I underwent physical and sexual violence. The anguish I experienced
then is not something I can describe in words. I endured and persevered all the violence
inflicted on me. I held on to my sanity and life. My determination to build a country freeof violence kept me afloat.
After three excruciating years in the military, I finally got my chance to escape. Having
earned the military’s trust, I was selected to visit Vancouver, Canada in a youth exchange program. On the morning of my departure, I scribbled the address of my uncle
living in Rhode Island, USA on a small piece of paper. I rolled it and shoved it inside thewaist of my trousers. When leaving the country, I was strip-searched from head to toe.
If the military found the paper, I would be killed. I was certain that my thumping heart
would betray me. Fate, however, was on my side. I was 22 years old.

08

ENTERING THE FREE WORLD
Canada presented a whole new world to me. At the hotel, I spent the first few days
watching the elevator go up and down, mesmerized by such an invention.
After a few days upon my arrival, I wrote a letter to my uncle and went to the hotel lobby with $10 in my pocket. I asked the receptionist for a favour to mail my letter to myuncle who was studying at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Three days later, I got a call from him in my hotel room. I was ecstatic to connect withhim. I informed him that I planned to defect and needed his support to find ways to escape the hotel. He then immediately contacted Elane Breier, the Founder of Timor-Leste
Alert Network, the solidarity movement in Vancouver, and asked her to pick me up fromthe hotel. My uncle called me later instructing me to find Elane about 100m away fromthe hotel who would be wearing a piece of traditional Timorese fabric around her neck.
To avoid any suspicion at the hotel entrance, I had to leave behind my big brown suitcase. I put a few pieces of clothes in a plastic bag, left a short note on top of the setof clothes the military provided me with, and hurried to the hotel lobby. The note read,“Thank you, but no thank you.”
I stepped out of the hotel and walked slowly to find Elane. My heart pumped fast andloud. I was terrified by the uncertainty. My life was seconds away from freedom.
Then I found a woman at a distance, who had the words “Free Timor-Leste” on her shirt
and wore Timorese fabric. My heart raced. The fact that she seemed similar in age tomy mother gave me a sense of relief.
Meeting Elane on that day on that Vancouver street completely changed my life.
It didn’t take long before the Indonesian authorities discovered I was no longer at thehotel. They started to search for me publicly. At Elane’s house, I saw my own name andpassport picture on TV that announced that I went missing and, if anyone found me, theIndonesian Consulate should be contacted. I was frightened that the Indoensian government were after me.
The solidarity movement acted fast and connected me to the Canadian immigration
office to apply for refugee status. After a few months, I was acknowledged as a politicalrefugee in Canada. I became the only and first Timorese woman to take political asylum in North America.

09

MAKING PEACE WITH MY ANGERFor the first few years in Canada, I stayed with Elane, her friends, and many other hostfamilies. They noticed that I had anger management issues. I was not aware of this atall. My experiences in Timor had made me aggressive and violent. This became clear
living in a peaceful country without violence.
My host families told me that I get angry very quickly and that I could be arrested if
my behaviors went overboard. I had such strong reactions to the idea of being jailed
because of my trauma from a coerced stayed at a prison for three days in Timor. I told
them I don’t want to go to jail, and they assigned me a counselor.
I ended up undergoing four years of counseling. My counselor told me that the root
cause of my anger lies with my mom and that the emotion will not go away unless I
resolve it with her. So they bought me a plane ticket to see my mom in Australia. They
managed to fly my mom there too.
Seeing my mom after all those experiences was intensely emotional. I finally got to ask
her the questions at the bottom of my heart.
“Why didn’t you save me whenever my brothers and sister beat me up? Why did you letthem beat me? How could you let that happen to me?”Bursting into years, my mom responded, “I’m so sorry, Bella. I was scared. I was scaredthat if I stopped them they would beat me. I was regularly beaten up by your father. I
10could not take any more violence. You were the one that I counted on. I am sorry, Bella.
You were the only one who could save me…”
I had no idea that even my mom, the bravest woman I know, was scared and trying tosave herself.
At the end of our time together, I asked her to change her flight so that I could depart
before her. I could not stand the pain of seeing her leave me behind. So we changed
her flight, and I boarded the Canada-bound flight while she waved goodbye. Later on,
I would learn that my mom broke down and fainted as I left, uttering the words, “Soclose… We are so close to home, yet I cannot take my daughter back home…”

REBUILDING A WAR TORN COUNTRY
In the six years that I spent in Canada, I dedicated myself talking about the plight ofTimor-Leste. I went on three national tours around Canada and traveled to over 80
countries including Japan. I worked towards independence from outside Timor-Leste.
On May 20, 2002, Timor-Leste finally gained independence. I returned to the country in1999 as soon as independence was assured and worked for the United Nations Development Programme to rebuild the country.
I soon realized no matter how many UN workers came and helped us, the country
couldn’t be rebuilt. If we wanted to meaningfully reconstruct this country for the firsttime in five centuries, we needed to educate the young. The next generation had lost
all motivation to improve or contribute.
So I looked for scholarships and obtained funding from the US government to study Education and Women’s Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. This is where I met
Aska Hamakawa, who would later found Earth Company. I spoke passionately to Aska
everyday about what I wanted to achieve in the newly independent Timor-Leste. We
talked for hours everyday, every night, without a clue that these conversations would
later lead to something fateful.
I returned to my country upon graduation at age 39. I was appointed advisor to the
President of Timor-Leste, a position that allowed me to take part in the reconstruction of
my dear country. I ended up serving the President for five years and studied the entire
country in and out.
To understand the current state of our country, the President and I walked for hours,
days, and weeks on treacherous terrains, reaching remote communities inaccessible bycar. In these isolated areas, there were no presidential suites - let alone any basic ac11

commodation facilities - so we slept on bare ground of local homes.
Because most rural households did not own a television, they did not recognize the faceof our President. We struggled to convince them that the President had actually cometo visit. Some looked at my watch and asked what it was.
Witnessing the harsh realities of their lives often without basic lifelines such as water andelectricity, the President and I experienced firsthand what it means to be the poorest
country in Asia.

FINDING HOPE WITHIN THE DEEP SCARS OF VIOLENCEThe occupation had devastated the Timorese people’s hearts. Many adults and children who lived through the violence did not have hope for the future despite their
free country. Approximately half of children under 15 years old had not been givena chance for education. There was no future during the occupation; no one cared if
young kids were roaming around the streets at 2am.
The Timorese economy hinged on its oil reserves. There were no other industries, andwith a mass exodus of young people from the countryside into the only city, Dili essentially became a large slum. But it was not all doom and gloom. The country had only justbeen liberated. Because the slate was completely blank, there was possibility to build a
new future.
I envisioned a new path for my country. I did not want Timor to follow the 20th-century
model of mass production and consumption, leading to environmental destruction. I
believed it was possible to create a new model in which our country and its people developed in harmony with the environment. This vision was embodied in my plans for the
Leublora Green Village.

12

PASSING ON MY MOTHER’S VALUES TO THE NEXT GENERATIONThe Leublora Green Village (LGV) is located in the impoverished Maubisse district, athree-hour drive from the capital Dili. The facilities are built on 18,000 square meters ofland which I inherited from my grandfather who was a known pro-independence leader. When the land was gifted to me, I decided to invest all of my money and time into it.
For me, LGV represents a hopeful, sustainable future for the country. But more importantly it serves as an opportunity for me to pass down the invaluable lessons from mymother to the next generation in the very land where she was born.
My mother, despite suffering repeated violence from my father, never ceased to love,
give, and forgive. These values were expressed through both her words and actions.
For example, our family was poor and we often only had simple things like porridge,
spinach, and bananas to fill our stomachs. Even in such a circumstance, my motherwould sometime give some of our food to an even poorer family next door. When I
asked her, “What will we eat?” she replied “If those kids don’t eat today, they may die.
You are not as young as them. We can still find something to eat tomorrow.”
As a teacher, my mother often said, “To eliminate hunger, we must eat. To eliminate
thirst, we must drink.” I did not comprehend what she meant by this when I was a child;now I understand that she was talking about just having enough to satisfy our minimum
needs. Any in excess should be given away.
When my mom completed her life, 8,000 people attended her funeral. At the time, I did
not understand why so many people came. According to the stories I heard later, in her
spare time my mother taught children who could not attend school for whatever reason. She would go to hospitals to teach sick children and adults. As a child I always wondered what she was doing whenever mymother came home late - only to find out
decades later that she was always serving
and tending to the marginalized. Even after her death, she certainly lived on in thehearts of all she touched. All these stories
made me even more proud of my mother,and I knew I wanted to live life like her.
Giving and forgiving were my mother’svirtues. Now they are mine. Mine to passon to the next generation in my mother’s
homeland, Maubisse.
13

A HELPING HAND TO MAKE MY DREAM COME TRUE
The development of LGV has not been an easy one. Originally, we had a $800,000
funding offer from the government towards the construction of LGV. But in the end, theoffer was rescinded because there had never been a woman receiving that level offunding in Timorese history. Since my teenage years I had fought for everything I set mymind on. And I was finally stepping forward to achieve real change. But, suddenly, mydreams were crushed.
This is when my friend from the Hawai’i days, Aska, reached out basically out of nowhere. Aska said, “Bella, let’s make this happen. We will raise some funds for you.” This
was not money that could be easily financed by an individual. But she explained, “I had
made up my mind seven years ago in Hawai’i that when you decide to take substantial
action for your country, I’m going to help no matter what.”
She and her husband Tomo started fundraising personally for me in Japan and ended
up registering an organization to do this more formerly once people started donating
sizable sums for my cause.
In this initial phase, they raised a total of $50,000 which was enough to build a green
school in Maubisse,the first environmental education facility in the country. This marked the beginning of aninvaluable three-year partnership that enabled me to achieve each piece of my LGV
dream one by one.
Their support included everything from building an environmental education facility forrural Timorese school kids, starting an organic farmers cooperative for poor rural women,
constructing revenue-generating eco villas, to even covering the salary of three teach14

ers for a three-year period. At the same time, my colleagues and I came together tocultivate the mountainous landscape to start an organic farm and opened a restaurant
to cook and serve the organic produce.
Beyond all these on-site activities, Aska and Tomo nominated me as a speaker for the inaugural TEDx Dili in 2015 - the video recording of which has attracted tens of thousandsof views - and helped me build a website, documentary film, and promotional materials.
These efforts have resulted in, among many things, visitors from over 20 countries and asolar panel donation from Australia. The holistic three-year partnership emerged out of
nowhere and was almost too good to be true.

15

SUDDEN DESPAIR, AND A HELPING HAND.
Even after the opening of the Leublora Green School in May 2015, I stayed in my position as Advisor to the President so we would have a source of income for my family andschool. At the school, we held environmental classes on the weekends and environmental camps during holidays. I travelled between Dili and Maubisse on a weekly basis
tending to the land and planting crops and flowers. Children from the area came to theschool even when closed on weekdays and helped me tend to the crops. They realizedthat what was grown there would become delicious food. Through the experiences ofliving with nature, the children’s faces gradually became brighter and gentler.
The other two cornerstones of LGV - the eco villas and the women’s agricultural group- followed suit. The local women worked tirelessly on their organic farms and managed
to sell crops and flowers in the capital Dili, dramatically improving their livelihood. WhenLGV started earning its own income in 2018, I left my position as the President’s Advisorand decided to devote my life to LGV.
What was barren, abandoned land five years ago has now become a foundation forpeople’s hopes. Many praise LGV as “the most beautiful place in Timor-Leste”. Even ourformer President commented, “this model should be replicated throughout the country.” In fact, we are now starting to plan for the second green village in the country.
LGV is a vision I dreamt, but it was not achieved by me alone. It became a reality withthe support from Earth Company, generous individuals from around the world, the peo-

16

ple of Maubisse, as well as my immediate family. Above all, it is my mother who saved
and inspired me. Just like my mother, I will keep serving and fighting. For my people
and generations to come.

THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR A SOCIETY THAT LEAVES BEHIND THE MARGINALIZEDI am the only Timorese woman who is openly gay. Given this unique status, I’m often
invited to speak at LGBTI-related events and conferences. In Timor, LGBTI kids are extremely vulnerable; they are abused and abandoned by their own parents, rejectedby teachers and friends, and denied education and employment opportunities. Iramand I started a shelter for these kids to provide physical safety and give them vocational
skills to earn their own living. In cases where the children are physically abused by theirparents, I try to visit their homes and directly speak with the parents to open their eyes
to different sexual orientations. Since I’m fairly well known in Timor and people trust me,some parents do start to show understanding towards their children. We have beenable to do this work for the past couple of years with funding from Australia.
People sometimes ask me whether I have made a shift from environmental activities tothe LGBTI cause. To me, however, they are the same thing; youth and women empowerment at Leublora Green Village and LGBTI support in Dili are part of the same problem. I believe every single person should have the basic access to human rights, education, and opportunity for prosperity. A half of the Timorese population is youth. Girls andwomen also represent a half of society. And both youth and women are marginalized
and vulnerable. No society that continues to generate more marginalized segments
has a hopeful future. So much talent and potential lie dormant in these people. I wantto create a society that respects and maximizes the potential of every single person regardless of position. That, I believe, can truly transform this country.
People often ask me whether all the horrible experiences I endured in my life cause me
to have anger and hatred, whether I have forgiven those who caused my suffering. In
fact, I was angry for many years. In recent years, however, I have come to realize nothing positive comes out of anger. Anger does not make peace.
I will run for presidency in the 2023 election. In addition to the former President and Nobel laureate Jose Ramos-Horta, many youth, women, and minority members desperate
for change are supporting my campaign. Regardless of the outcome, I will continue tofight for the future of this country that I love. I do not want my daughter or anyone fromthe next generation to suffer what I had to endure in my childhood.

17

Impact Hero 2016

Robin Lim
Midwife

A Midwife Extraordinaire Tirelessly
Saving and Ser ving Babies andMothers around the World
Robin is a Filipino–American midwife, mother, grandmother,and founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a nonprofit organizationthat provides free maternity care for pregnant women,mothers and their babies, plus healthcare for all those in
need. To date, she has birthed over 9,000 babies and is known
by locals and international fans alike as “Ibu Robin” (Mother
Robin). Bumi Sehat operates clinics in Bali, Aceh, Papua andthe Philippines, as well as temporary clinics in disaster areas
around the world such as Haiti and Nepal.
18

9000+
Total Babies bornin all Bumi Sehat
locations

128,275
Total 2021 Health,
Education, Human
Services, andDisaster relief

ROBIN’S STORYTHE DAUGHTER OF A WAR VETERAN BECOMESA PEACE ACTIVISTThe origin of my belief that love and peace can unite all of humanity
comes from my blood and my upbringing. My mother was bornin a mountainous region of Luzon in the Philippines. My father was
American. They conceived me in Okinawa, but I was born in a
trailer in the American state of Arizona. Since my father was in the
military, my childhood was spent moving between many militarybases across the country and around the world. I lived in Arizona,
New Jersey and Washington. I spent my 4th grade year in Okinawa
and completed the 5th grade in the Philippines. I have wonderful
memories from my time in Okinawa. Though there were skeletons incaves and unexploded grenades in the post-war years, I enjoyedexploring the ocean and mud flats. Even though we never settled in
one place, we were blessed to meet so many wonderful people whowelcomed us in all of the places we lived. For all their differences, I
observed, even as a child, that there was something common thatbound us all together. I now know that this common bond is love.
My Filipino grandmother was a Hilot, a healer and a midwife, who
lived high in the Cordillera Mountains. People say that when I was ayoung girl, she put an Anting-Anting into my heart. Anting-Anting
is a tiny irritation, it could be a small shell, or a stone, or a seed. It ismeant to cause spiritual and physical discomfort, to cause a person
to never rest until their soul’s duty is fulfilled.
When I was in the 7th grade, my father was deployed to Vietnam
for 13 months and came back with a bad case of post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD). During his time in Vietnam, he was told thathe could kill as many Asians as possible because they didn’t havesouls. Imagine hearing someone talking about your family membersin this way. After he returned, he often woke up by finding himself
strangling my mother’s neck in his sleep. Believe it or not, this kind of
behaviour was common among war veterans suffering from PTSD.
My father thought about leaving the family because he was afraid ofwhat he might do to his wife. Later in his career, he was appointed asa Chief Warrant Officer, but was never promoted anymore because19he was married to an Asian. These experiences that my family lived through led me
to develop a growing passion for anti-war and anti-discrimination activities during my
teenage years.

RAISING FOUR SMALL CHILDREN AS A SINGLE MOTHER
When I turned 17, I started working as a cook at Maharishi International University
in the Alps, close to the border between France and Italy. This is where I conceived
my first child, Deja. Looking back, I was so fortunate to be poor. I could not afford to
go to the hospital, so my baby had a very gentle landing on earth, with the help of
two gentle midwives, in the comfort of my trailer home. Deja was born in July and by
September I was back to college in the United States, holding my baby in a Snugli as
I rode my bicycle with her to classes. She still says, “I went to college twice: once withmy mother, and once again when I was bigger.” Four years later, I gave birth to myfirst son, Noel, and we moved from California to the island of Maui in Hawaii.
Around this time, my first husband left us, but my adorable children always mademe smile and kept me going. It was a challenging time for me as a single mother. In
spite of this, our little family was still very happy and swimming in the Pacific Ocean
always brought us great joy. I raised my children while working as a summer school
teacher and volunteer teacher on childbirth programs. When I was 29, I went back to
a community college to become poetry teacher. This got me a job as the “Poet in the
Schools,” for the Island of Maui.
I gave birth to my second daughter, Zhou, when I was 30. In the same year I started
writing my first book on childbirth. Two years later, I had my first experience of waterbirth with the arrival of my fourth child. In a water tub set in my garden filled with thesmell of night blooming jasmine, I gave birth in just one hour and twenty minutes. It
was truly a beautiful and gentle birth experience. My midwives were so wonderful andsupportive. Raising four small children as a single mother was not easy, but each day
was filled with so many precious moments and so much love.

FINDING MY PURPOSE TO LIVE FOR LOVEThe tragedy that shook up my life came out of nowhere. When I was 34, my younger
sister, who was living in America, passed away, along with her unborn baby, frompregnancy-induced hypertension. When she went to the hospital feeling unwell, herdoctor told her to go home because he was too busy to see her at that time. Yet, onthat very night, she died. If her doctor had given her just one minute of his time to lookat her chart, or if she had had a midwife convincing him to see her, my sister and herbaby could have been saved.
20

My brother-in-law, who is from Korea, lost his beloved wife and daughter at the sametime. My mother lost a daughter who was in the prime of her life. I was crushed to seeboth of them in tears and despair, but my tragedy did not end there. Soon after mysister’s death, my dear friend, Brenda, and my midwife, Sunny, both passed away too.
Plunged into the deepest sorrow of losing three people whom I loved in such a shorttime, my life took a big turn. I began to ask myself about my purpose on this earth.
After much reflection, I realized that I had a purpose and that it was love. Since then, I
have lived my life, every day and every night, for love.
I had been able to experience loving and gentle births because of my midwives:
Debby, Mary, Sunny, Jan and Tina. My sister did not have a midwife by her side andshe lost her life. I was convinced that I could not let anyone else around me repeat
my sister’s tragedy or experience such sorrow. This is how I set my feet on the path of
becoming a midwife. This is how I came to devote the rest of my life to mothers, babies
and families.

MIDWIFE ROBIN LIM IN BALI
Two years after my sister’s death, I became the mother of six children after I married
Wil. Wil was made a widower when my best friend, Brenda, died tragically in a car
accident. Their son, Thor, was turning 3 years old and daughter, Lakota, was only 5.
For some reason, Lakota insisted on staying at my house, day and night, after her mom
passed away. Wil was shy and apologized for his daughter always staying with me.
To this, Lakota said: “I am a little girl, and little girls need a mother.” I was fine with thisextra daughter. I had loved her mother so much, so of course I would care for her as
well.

21

Over the months following the tragedies, Lakota and Thor stayed close to me, andalways asked me to share stories about their mother. As a single mother with 4 smallchildren of my own and 3 beautiful goats to milk (plus the little goats), adding two
more children was not a problem. In fact, it brought more joy and more helping
hands. Wil helped on the farm too and, over time, we became a family.
Around this time, I felt a calling to become part of a society that honored children andelders as blessed souls closer to the Divine Creator. I heard that this was true about
Bali and Balinese culture. As Wil and I fell in love and blended our families together
into one, we set together out to explore Bali.
We moved to Nyuh Kuning village and sought to learn from the beautiful, rich, familyoriented and deeply spiritual culture of the island. While Nyuh Kuning is now a bustlingneighbour village to Ubud, at that time, it was a place with limited electricity andrunning water. It was a place though where miracles were waiting for me to arrive.
In 1992, an elderly “Dukun Bayi” (baby catcher, this one a man!) of the village diedsaying, “In ten days, my successor will come.” Exactly ten days later, I turned up in thevillage. People who believed the traditional midwife’s final words came to me asking
for my help to welcome their babies into the world.
Emerging into this miraculous situation so soon after deciding to become a midwife
made me feel like I was beginning to live my calling. Just 42 days after giving birth to
my seventh child, I started helping mothers in the village to give birth. I worked day
and night, riding on the back of motorbike across hills and rushing rivers, to make sure22

that children could be brought into this world with safety and love.
I encountered more miracles after arriving in Nyuh Kuning. One day, my children
brought back two injured baby owls to our house. It was not easy finding food forthem, but we raised them at home. This surprised everyone in the village since owls
don’t like living with humans. With owls—the Balinese symbol for a midwife—living in
our house, the villagers recognized and trusted me as “the midwife of the village”
even though I was a newcomer.
One year after I moved to Bali, I created Yayasan Bumi Sehat, which translates to“Healthy Mother Earth Foundation.” The purpose of this non-profit organization was topromote safe, healthy and loving pregnancy, birth and post-partum practices. At first,
I mostly worked with Balinese midwives helping mothers giving birth at home. Learning
about the harsh reality for mothers and babies who lose their lives during childbirth inBali, I felt my sister’s spirit push me to establish a women’s health clinic.
At that time, Indonesia had the worst maternal mortality rate among Southeast Asian
countries. Many impoverished mothers had no access to prenatal care. Poverty was
the root cause of the lost lives of these mothers and babies. Mothers were too poor tohave a healthy meal and their malnutrition caused them to have premature deliveries
and postpartum hemorrhages. Another problem was that the hospitals were soovercrowded that they were trying to shorten delivery times to fit births into a scheduleby overusing labour-inducing drugs and performing unnecessary C-sections.
Poverty cannot be the reason to give up on life. Changing this devastating reality has
become my mission in life. I went back to the United States to study and passed theexam to become a certified midwife. I also raised funds to open a clinic in Bali andofficially registered the organization in 1995. When I was 39, I was able to open Bumi
Sehat’s first clinic in Bali. This birth clinic remains open, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
providing free and compassionate healthcare services to families and pregnant
mothers in poverty.

STRIVING TO SUPPORT “LOVING AND GENTLE BIRTH”
Bumi Sehat clinics welcome and treat all mothers free of charge. We suppor t
everyone to experience healthy, loving, and gentle births. We treat all patients equallyregardless of religion, ethnicity, or class. Mothers can come to us without money toreceive prenatal care and give birth. They can also stay with us after labour. We help
all mothers and babies to breastfeed and offer guidance, support and counselling
after birth.
As clinics run by midwives, every birth we facilitate is a natural birth. When I decided
23

to become a midwife, I researched about reproductive health practices in manydifferent cultures, including the traditional ways of giving birth. This has led me tobelieve that all mothers have “the ability to give birth” and that all babies have “theability to be born.” We should not have to rely on labour-inducing drugs. Instead,
we should do all we can to support the powers that mothers and babies have been
gifted by nature. In the rare cases that a baby really needs to be born by Caesarean
birth, the skilled midwives assess the risks and transport the mother in our ambulance.
Caesarean, or “belly birth” is also a miracle. All births of all species on this planet are
miracles.
The power to give birth is spurred by a hormone called oxytocin, also known as thelove hormone. Oxytocin stimulates contractions during labour and induces lactation
after delivery. When a mother is feeling happy and releasing lots of oxytocin, the“ability to give birth” and “ability to be born” are optimized. This makes childbirth feelas natural and gentle as it can be. Oxytocin is the labour-inducing hormone, so there
is normally no need to use artificial drugs to induce labour if a mother is feeling loved
and supported.
For this reason, midwives at Bumi Sehat clinics always stay side by side with mothers
who are about to give birth. They encourage and hug them so that they feel loved,safe and happy. We also encourage the father of the baby, and any other family
members whom the mother asks for, to stay beside her during the labour, birth andpostpartum process. When a baby arrives, we all embrace the mother together andsing the song of blessing for the mother and the baby.
Another important practice at Bumi Sehat is that we don’t immediately clamp and cut
newborns’ umbilical cords. We wait at least for a few hours to do this. In some cases
we wait until the cord releases naturally (this is called a lotus birth). By delaying theclamping and cutting of babies’ umbilical cords, babies can receive their full supply

24

of blood rich in oxygen and stem cells. It is the birthright of every child to receive theblood and nutrition stored in the placenta in order to live an optimally healthy life.
We treat mothers in many natural ways (including massage, acupuncture andhomeopathy) to encou rage healthy chi ldbi r th, suppo r ted postpa r tum andbreastfeeding. There is absolutely no need for the mothers in poverty to buy formula
if their babies are breastfed. The statistics are clear. A baby fed infant formula inIndonesia is 300 times more likely to die in the first year of life compared to breastfedbabies. We want to make sure that mothers and babies learn the incredible potentialof what is given naturally to them at birth so that they can survive and thrive when
they return home.

BABIES ARRIVE TO GIVE HOPE IN A DISASTER
Several years after our clinic opened in Bali, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit
the coast of Sumatra. The 9.1 magnitude earthquake triggered a series of massive
tsunami waves, leaving more than 200,000 people dead or missing. One does notthink of it often, but, even in the midst of such tragic disasters, mothers continue togive birth. I immediately dispatched a medical team with some basic equipment to
the Samatiga district of Aceh, Indonesia. This was the epicenter of the disaster and we
set up a temporary tent clinic that provided emergency disaster relief and maternalcare.
Temporary medical relief camps often face shortages of supplies, but midwives
can overcome this challenge. We can deliver babies without labor-inducing drugs,
running water, electricity or other hospital facilities. This is because we believe in thenatural power of birth. Our patients may be traumatized and homeless, but theirbabies must be born safely and healthily, no matter the circumstances.
Even after Aceh recovered from the immediate damages of the disaster, people
kept coming to our temporary clinic to receive our compassionate health care. With
funding from Rotary International and the IDEP Foundation, we established the Bumi
Sehat Aceh Clinic to continue supporting this heartbroken community. This clinic
continues to provide services to the people of Aceh.
We have also dispatched our emergency team to the following devastated regions
following the natural disasters they experienced: Padang (2006), Yogyakarta (2008),
Haiti (2010), Nepal (2015), Lombok (2018), and Sulawesi (2018). In addition, we were
early responders in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in
2013. Bumi Sehat also serviced our island by aiding with medical, food and survival
provisions for the tens of thousands of people evacuated due to the 2017-201825

eruptions of Mount Agung in Bali.
Even when an earthquake or tsunami destroys everything, babies continue to beborn. This new life brings hope to the survivors. I have seen mothers who have justlost their families or houses regain their will to live after giving birth at our temporary
clinics,. These experiences helped me to realize that loving and gentle birth can give
mothers the extraordinary strength to live.

JOB, FOOD, OR ADOPTION - ANYTHING WE CAN DO
Along with bringing humans gently to the world, there is one more cause to which I
dedicate my life. This cause is doing everything in my power to support and stand withmothers and babies, even outside of our birth rooms. When a poor and malnourishedmother comes to our clinic, we visit her after she returns home with her baby. We gowith food, clothes or job for her husband—whatever they a need the most at thatmoment.
A few stories come to mind. We once visited a mother who was too poor to feed herfamily. We learned that she was a seamstress, but that she had no money to buy asewing machine. We bought her a sewing machine and now she has more orders for
clothes than she can handle.

Another couple had a stillbirth in our clinic due to themother’s malnourishment. They were unable to pay for the funeral, so I paid the feeon their behalf. One mother was sent to the hospital from Bumi Sehat clinic due to acomplication during birth. When I learned that she could not take her baby home
until the medical fee was paid, I immediately hired a lawyer to return the baby safely
to the family. Another mother asked me to adopt her baby because she was too poor
to raise her. I welcomed the baby into my family as my eighth child. Elly Anna wasstarving when I got her, but we feel so blessed that she survived. Now, Elly Anna is abeautiful, thirteen year old young woman.
Perhaps these are not a midwife’s responsibilities. Some people are puzzled to see me
being so involved with the lives of others.
They often ask me why. My answer is quite simple. Since I’ve chosen to devote my life
to the path of love, I will never abandon a mother or baby or family in need.
I want to be someone who is always there to help mothers and babies, not just as a
midwife but also as a person. I will always do everything I can.
As a result of listening to and caring for mothers, babies and their families for the
past 28 years, Bumi Sehat has grown from a small women’s clinic to a true healthand community center. We now offer treatments from Western medicine (with a26

blood and urinalysis lab), acupuncture, Chinese medicine and Balinese traditional
medicine. We also provide many other complementary therapies, eye tests, and run
a community medical outreach program. In addition, we are proud to provide elderly
care, midwifery training, a midwifery scholarship program, educational programs foryouth and a village recycling program. Finally, we have a special program to help
HIV+ mothers get the anti-retroviral medication they need to live a healthy life and toensure that their babies are not born with HIV.
I am most grateful for the fact that Bumi Sehat has been able to cover its operating
costs solely through donations. I am so blessed to have people all around the world
who support us because they are passionate about our mission. I can never thankthem enough. I want to tell them “I love you” a thousand times, but it will still not beenough to express my gratitude.

JUST LIKE I SUPPORT MOTHERS AND BABIES, THERE ARE PEOPLESUPPORTING ME
To be honest, for many years, there wasn’t a single night when I didn’t worry about
the cost of running our clinics. Thankfully, every time I was given an award, whether
this came from CNN or the President of the Philippines, we received more donations.
But these donations were only temporary. For over 20 years, I was always concerned
about how to keep Bumi Sehat running. This all changed in 2015 when I met Earth
Company. I am no longer going to bed worried about the future, because now I
27

have people continuing to support Bumi Sehat’s work from Japan in the same way I
continue to support mothers and babies. We are the hands and they are the hearts ofBumi Sehat.
In October 2016, with donations from Japan through Earth Company and from other
donors all around the world, we were able to open a new, bigger clinic in Bali. The
donations from Japan included a very large sum from a man who contributed theinheritance from his recently deceased and dearly beloved wife. These donations
also allowed us to build new clinics in Sentani in Indonesian Papua and on Palawan
Island in the Philippines.
These are remote and isolated places where people desperately needed Bumi
Sehat’s care. Funding from Japan through Earth Company has enabled us to provide
support for the evacuees of the 2017 Bali volcanic eruptions and to serve those injuredby the earthquakes in Lombok in 2018.
Most recently, thanks to a large donation from a Japanese real estate company that
Earth Company introduced us to, we just finished building a youth center that willserve as an evacuation center if emergency situations arise again. We are now also
in the process of setting up a permanent clinic in Lombok funded by another donor.
My love and care alone would not have enabled us to provide compassionate careto survivors of recent natural disasters. Your support made it all possible. I feel thatmy incredible connection to Japan, a bond that was forged during my childhood in
28

Okinawa, has been revitalized through all of your support. We will continue to bringbabies to the world in a gentle and beautiful way to honour you, your support andyour intentions.

WE NEED MORE PEOPLE CRAZY ABOUT LOVEI believe that each individual is an essential “piece of peace.” The act of protecting
one baby, one mother, one family at a time allows us to build peace in the world.
Babies who are brought gently to the world have the intact capacity to love and trust
others. There would be no more war or violence if the world was filled with such loving
and trusting people. Midwifery is a challenging, twenty-four hours a day profession,
but bringing healthy children into the arms of happy mothers is always meaningful andrewarding. I am very proud to be working for families, on a foundation of compassion
and trust, to create a society filled with love. Together, we can build a lasting peace.
I sincerely believe that peace begins at birth and I think about mothers and babies
all the time. Some people call me crazy, and yes, I am passionate. I am crazy for love
and will continue to dedicate my life to love in the hope that one day I will see a world
filled with people living their lives for love.
I want to be someone who is always there to help mothers and babies, not just as a
midwife but also as a person. I will always do everything I can.

29

Impact Hero 2017

1000+

Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner Total Youth Leaders
Climate Change Activist & Poet

A Spoken Word Artist at the Forefront ofPacific Islands’ Climate Crisis
Whilst fighting to amplify the voices of climate change
victims heard on the world stage, Kathy founded JoJikum to empower Marshallese youth – at the front lineof climate change – to tell their stories and take actionin their own communities. She wants to ensure that even
if they are forced to leave their ancestral land in future,
their national identity and culture is preser ved andpassed onto future generations. Kathy dedicates herself
to empowering future generations of Pacific Islanders to30
not only survive but also thrive.

who has taken action
with Kathy

1082
Total Youth who has
joined the Kathy’s
workshopKATHY’S STORYDISCOVERING MY CREATIVE SELF IN THE FACE
OF DISCRIMINATIONI was blessed to be born in a Micronesian region of the Pacific Ocean
called the Marshall Islands. My home is a beautiful place, but it isalso geographically isolated, so life is challenging and opportunities
for educational advancement are very limited. The highest degree
you can receive in the country is from a junior college.
My mother was the first person from the Marshall Islands to obtain a
PhD. She wanted me to have good education too, so when I was 6
years old, she made the decision to leave our homeland and raise
me in Hawaii. As much as I would miss my happy childhood in the
Marshall Islands, I was excited about what lay ahead in America.
What awaited me in Hawaii though, other than a new world of
possibilities, was the brutal reality of racial discrimination. Hawaii wasa wonderful place, but immigrants from Micronesian islands were
often teased, discriminated against and mistreated because of our
backgrounds, names and accents.
As a child so unused to this form of treatment, I often wondered why
we others hated us when we had done nothing wrong. As a means
to comprehend, process and express what was happening around
me, I turned to poetry as a creative outlet. It was a way to share myfrustrations, sadness, hopes and dreams. It helped me so much to
not only survive, but to thrive in challenging circumstances.

POETRY READINGS - THE ENCOUNTERS
THAT CHANGED MY LIFE.
After spending much my adolescence expressing myself through thebeauty of poetry, I decided to go to college in California to formallypursue creative writing as a vocation. While I was there, I began
studying the poetry of African American poets, Chicano poets, andArab American poets. It was at this time that I found people voicing
their opinions about social injustices through reading, writing, reciting
and sharing poetry. I began to wonder - what are the social justices
that our community was facing? What poetry could I write to speak
to these issues?
31This was very powerful for me as I learned that poetry readings can be an effective
way to raise awareness and mobilize communities to address some of the mostpressing social issues. Much like music, poetry has a way of touching people’s hearts
and souls regardless of their gender, background or age. After recognizing the true
potential of the written word, I knew I wanted to communicate with the world throughthis medium and began a new path as a poet.

FACING THE REALITIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE FIRST TIME
When I started as a poet, I wrote mostly about racial discrimination and the nuclear
legacy of our islands. Climate change was not even an issue that caused my creativemind much concern. This changed in 2010when I returned to the Marshall Islands forthe first time in ten years. One morning, I went outside and I couldn’t believe what I
was seeing. There was water all across the road from waves that had washed up. We
waded in ankle-deep water to my aunt’s house across the street. I was overcome
with shock. This was the first time that I personally witnessed the effects of rising sea
levels caused by climate change. I felt scared, and small - it made me realize thatclimate change wasn’t something happening in the future - it was happening now.
My homeland was disappearing into the sea.
The Marshall Islands are only, on average, two meters above sea level. We have a richoral tradition on our islands dating back to the time our first ancestors reached ourshores in their canoes. Our elders tell us that flooding during the high tide was not a32

regular occurence. Today this type of flooding happens a few times a year. The watersof the Pacific that were once so harmonised with our lives now damage our crops,
shatter the gravestones of our ancestors and sometimes even swallow our houses.
Our balance with nature and with our waters has been lost. We swing between
extremes now in ways unprecedented in history. In 2008, the Marshall Islands declareda state of emergency when widespread flooding displaced hundreds of islanders,damaged numerous homes and threatened public health. In 2016, my countr ydeclared a state of emergency again, though this time it was because of a droughtthat forced over 6000 people to live on less than one liter of water a day. It is clear thatclimate change has dramatically changed life in the Marshall Islands.

A DESPAIR TURNED TO HOPE
When I first experienced flooding in the Marshall Islands in 2010, I couldn’t process myemotions. I switched between feelings of anger, confusion, sadness and hopelessness.
This caused me to return to the medium that helps me make sense of my experiencesand existence: poetry. I immediately began writing and my first poem on climatechange emerged. I entitled it “Tell Them” and recorded a video of myself reading it
aloud.
I published it on YouTube because I wanted as many people as possible to know what
was happening. Somehow the video spread into the climate change community and
I was invited to an international conference on climate change.
When I received the invitation, I had just graduated with my Master’s, and had justgiven birth to my first daughter. Although I studied Pacific Island Studies, I didn’t havethe technical or scientific expertise on climate change. But through the art of poetry,
I had managed to reach experts, decision makers and change-makers whom I neverthought I’d be able to meet.
The American Embassy in the Marshall Islands sent my video to the United Nations.
This led to the United Nations nominating me to make a keynote speech during the
opening ceremony of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in 2014.
Amazingly, I was selected for this role out of 544 candidates from 115 countries, andthey asked me to write a poem that would inspire world leaders and Heads of States
to take action on climate change. Yes, Heads of States!
I was only 26 years old at the time. I asked myself how I could inspire country leaders
through my humble experiences. How do I move them and change their minds to takeaction? What inspiration can be found in the destructive nature of climate change?
33

I needed some inspiration myself so I asked the United Nations for photographs that
portrayed the current climate change movement.
Until that moment, my understanding of climate change was a depressing one. The
photographs changed my perspective completely. In them, I saw people from all over
the world coming together to save places like the Marshall Islands. I saw immensely
talented people dedicating their lives to the cause. I saw hope. I saw a vision for the
future of the planet that was compelling and inspiring. It was then that I knew change
could happen. I understood that I was not alone. I knew that we were safeguarding
the planet for future generations and wanted to share this hope with my daughter.
I may not have known how to inspire the world, but I knew how to speak to mydaughter.

On the day of the United Nations Climate Change Summit, the poem for my daughter
became a poem for the children of the world. It received a standing ovation fromthe audience. After the poetry reading, many people approached me. My poem
seemed to have resonated with them all. It didn’t matter what country they were fromor what title they had on their nametag. This was a huge moment in my life. I realizedthat poetry could be a means through which I contribute to saving the planet. This
launched my career as a climate change activist.

34

Dear Matafele Peinam,

because baby we are going to fightyour mommy daddy, bubu jimma,
your country and president too
we will all fight

you are a seven month old sunrise ofgummy smiles
you are bald as an egg and bald
as the buddha
you are thighs that are thunder andshrieks that are lightning
so excited for bananas, hugs andour morning walks past the lagoon

and even though there are those hidden
behind platinum titles
who like to pretend that we don’t exist
that the marshall islands, tuvalu,
kiribati, maldives andtyphoon haiyan in the philippinesand floods of pakistan, algeria, colombia
and all the hurricanes, earthquakes, andtidalwaves
didn’t exist

dear matafele peinam,
I want to tell you about that lagoon
that lucid, sleepy lagoon lounging
against the sunrise
men say that one day,that lagoon will devour you
they say it will gnaw at the shoreline
chew at the roots of your breadfruit trees
gulp down rows of your seawalls
and crunch your island’s shattered bones
they say you, your daughter andyour granddaughter, too
will wander rootless with only a passport tocall homestill, there are those who see us
hands reaching out
fists raising up
banners unfurling
megaphones booming
and we are canoes blocking coal ships
we are the radiance of solar villages
we are the rich clean soil of the farmer’s past
we are petitions blooming fromteenage fingertips
we are families biking, recycling, reusing,engineers dreaming, designing, building,artists painting, dancing, writing,
and we are spreading the word

dear matafele peinam,
don’t cry, mommy promises you
no one will come and devour you
no greedy whale of a company sharking
through political seasno backwater bullying of businesses withbroken morals
no blindfolded bureaucracies gonna push
this mother ocean over the edge

and there are thousands out on the street
marching with signs, hand in handchanting for change NOW
and they’re marching for you, baby
they’re marching for us

no one’s drowning, baby
no one’s moving
no one’s losing their homeland
no one’s gonna becomea climate change refugee
or should i say, no one else

because we deserve to do more thanjust survive
we deserve to thrivedear matafele peinam,
you are eyes heavy with drowsy weightso just close those eyes, baby
and sleep in peaceto the carteret islanders of
papua new guinea
and to the taro islanders of the solomon islands
i take this moment to apologize to you
we are drawing the line here

because we won’t let you down
you’ll see

35

SURVIVING A NUCLEAR-CLIMATE DOUBLE TRAGEDY
Many Japanese settled in the Marshall Islands in the 30 years before World War II. My
ancestry actually includes a Japanese bloodline – but like many Marshallese, the storyof that bloodline is unknown. We do know, however, that relations between Japaneseand Marshallese people were mostly peaceful until the start of World War II. The war
however was a time of tremendous suffering. Under Japanese military occupation,
the Marshall Islands became a base for fighter jets, with many locals forced into backbreaking labour constructing concrete air strips. Bombs and grenades pockmarked
the island. Famine and starvation was brought on by the Americans cutting off
supplies. Just when we thought we would receive some sort of respite at the end of
the war, something much worse occurred.
Under US occupation, the Marshall Islands became the site of an extensive nuclear
weapons testing program. The US tested over sixty nuclear weapons on the islandsof Bikini and Enewetak. Just one of those sixty, codenamed Bravo, was one hundred
times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. While the Marshallese living in thebomb-struck islands were evacuated during this time, the blast from the Bravo bomb
was so powerful that its radioactive ash made residents of surrounding islands violently
ill in a matter of hours.
The after-effects of those bombs are still felt today – physically, emotionally, andculturally.Bikini Atoll was one of our biggest, lushest atolls. Before they were resettled,
Bikini Islanders were known as some of the best canoe carvers and fastest canoe
racers in our islands. Today, that skillset and tradition has been lost as the Bikini
Islanders have been dispersed throughout other island communities.
I share this history to raise awareness about what has happened to my country. I
also share it because it provides context to how the Marshallese enter the climatechange discourse. We enter this conversation as survivors. We also enter it alreadyunderstanding the trauma of forced migration, the loss of land, and the loss of culture.

36

These are the three issues we face with the looming threat of climate change. As
global temperatures soar from fossil-fuelled human lifestyle choices, the ice meltsin the polar regions, sea levels rise, and our islands inch closer and closer towards
disappearing forever.
The Bikini Islanders were one of the most active canoers in the region and once
considered pioneers of canoe culture. After 50 years since forced migration, however,they lost their canoe-building skills and proud canoers altogether. If the climate crisis
pushes us off island, we as a country would lose something much bigger than canoe
culture.
Marshall Islanders confront the effects of the two biggest threats facing humanity –nuclear weapons and climate change - on a daily basis. Sometimes it seems that thecountry is living out an apocalyptic microcosm of where the world may be heading.
This has compelled me to become a messenger to the world before it’s too late.
In my work as a writer, poet and performer, I use art and stories from our islands toshed light on the increasing threat of climate change. In a world that often dismisses
the power of human emotion and connection, art and writing are much needed
tools that provide nourishment and sustenance to those who open themselves up
to experiencing them. As a Marshall Islander faced with the possibility of losing myancestral home, art provides me with a vehicle, the ability to freeze moments in time,
the gift to meditate upon and share the changes our island is going through.

TO CHANGE THE WORLD, MORE YOUTH NEED TO RAISE THEIR VOICESWe Marshallese have lost some of our islands in the recent past when we didn’t raise
our voices loud enough to be heard. We cannot let history repeat itself. To save ourislands, its history and the rich culture that have developed here over a thousand37

year, I cannot be the sole voice. There needs to be more of us standing up in theinternational arena and working towards safeguarding our future. That is why, in 2014,
I collaborated with my cousin Milan to start Jo-Jikum. Jo-Jikum in Marshallese means‘your home or your place’. We named our organization this to encourage our youth
to fight for their home. Today, Jo-Jikum is the only youth-focused climate changeorganization in the country.
When we began, we had no money or knowledge about how to run an organization.
All we had was a deep love for our country and strong desire to protect our homelandfrom rising seas and cultural destruction. We started by running educational programs
and climate change youth campaigns whenever we could secure funding. We could
see we were making a small difference but dreamed about doing more. It was noteasy though. Thankfully, this is when Earth Company entered the picture. They told me
I had been nominated as one of the candidates for their annual Impact Hero Award.
I was very happy about this and agreed to continue through the selection process.
After a series of interviews, they selected me as their Impact Hero 2017.
By then, I was being frequently invited to participate in international conferencesand events and traveled the world promoting climate change action. My work wasfeatured by CNN, Democracy Now, the Huffington Post, NBC News and National
Geographic. I was even chosen by Vogue Magazine in 2015 as one of the 13 “Climate
Warriors” along with the United Nations’ top climate change official, Christiana
Figueres. In spite of all the attention my work was getting though, Jo-Jikum continued
to struggle financially until Earth Company came along.
Earth Company was the first organization that gave me and Jo-Jikum true support
over a prolonged period of time. In 2016, Earth Company helped me attend theUnited Nations’ annual climate summit, COP22, in Marrakech, Morocco. They evenflew to the Marshall Islands to holdworkshops for me and my co-founder
Milan. They helped us redef ine ourvision, mission and business plan andmentored us on the technical elementsof running a non-profit organization.
Together we were able to develop a
new program that really reflected our
vision and mission.
In 2017, they brought me to Japan totake par t in fundraising events andactivities. As a result, we managed to38raise over 100,000 USD. This enabled us to realize our long-standing dream of buildinga youth center as our ‘home’ and base of activities. Until then, we didn’t even have anoffice and had to rent a space for every activity. This center gives us our own space tohold our educational programs, leadership courses, and climate change workshops.
Through the entire collaboration with Earth Company, I have grown and developed
as leader and climate change activist. I have also become more confident andcompetent at running our organization.

OUR “DOOMSDAY SCENARIO” IS APPROACHING FASTER THAN WE THINK
In 2018, Jo-Jikum participated in the government’s second climate change summit in
the Marshall Islands. Listening to the presentations given by our young participants filled
me with a lot of hope. Our youth are so aware of the realities and the global forces thatthreaten our islands. My generation and our entire world can learn so much and draw
incredible inspiration from them.
These positives were counterbalanced by the devastating truth contained within thepresentation by climate scientist Professor Chip Fletcher. In his talk, he shared imagegenerated projections of what different areas of our islands would look like with various
levels of sea-level rise (one feet, two feet, three feet, etc.). When he showed us that our
airport would be underwater after a sea level rise of only 30 cm, I heard most of the
Marshallese audience collectively gasp out loud. No one expected it to be that bad,that soon. His conclusion that the Marshall Islands must accompany its climate change
advocacy with plans for climate change adaptation (building new islands or elevating
our existing islands) also really highlighted our plight.
I watched his presentation with a certain level of agitation and shock. I couldn’t believethat this is the option facing us. He said that with the current geo-political outlook,
keeping global warming at 1.5C was going to be very difficult and highly unlikely. The
recently released report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on
1.5C confirms this. In Chapter Two it states that, “Under emissions in line with current

39

pledges under the Paris Agreement, global warming is expected to surpass 1.5C, evenif pledges are supplemented with very challenging increases in the scale and ambitionof mitigation after 2030.”

GIVE US ROOM TO GRIEVE
To be perfectly frank, I gave up on 1.5C that day. I felt my hope crumble as I wrapped
my mind around the fact that we are now being forced to change the shape of ourthousand-year old homeland because of the actions of the global community. What
will happen to the stories, songs, chants, and traditional practices that are rooted in theland? What would happen to our culture?
The Marshall Islands only contributes 0.00001% of global emissions and yet we are
now being forced to consider unthinkable possibilities with money we do not have.
The artificial islands in the Maldives and Saudi Arabia are billion-dollar projects to
manufacture a handful of islands. We are a nation of 29 coral atolls and 1,156 individual
islands and islets that stretch across 800,000 square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean.
What can we expect to do?
I discussed this with my mother who is the President of the country. My mother has
always been practical and she bluntly replied, “What will you have us do? We need tomove forward.” And I responded, “Yes, we should move forward. If we give up on the
1.5C goal though, if we move towards building new islands, then we must take the time
to mark this moment. We can’t just move forward as if this is business-as-usual. Planningfor the loss of a thousand-year-old land and culture is not business-as-usual.”Moving forward is necessary. Thinking innovatively is necessary. Planning for a climate
threatened future is necessary. But I also want to mark this moment. The science is clear.
It is no longer possible for Marshallese people to merely hope for the best. We mustcombine our advocacy with a plan for the worst because that is the trajectory we are
currently on. Art and poetry allow me the time and space to process all this. We can’t
just move on without fully connecting with our past, realizing how we got here, andstriving to do our best going forward.

WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON OUR 1000-YEAR OLDCOUNTRY AND CULTURE
As I travel around the world attending climate change conferences and events, I tellthis story over and over again. To be completely honest though, it is not easy. Everytime I tell the same story, it is actually a gut-wrenching experience. If I can avoid
thinking about all of this, I would. There are more and more people involved in thisfight to tackle climate change. This gives me hope. Every time we hear bad news
40though, like how President Trump is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement or that theworld could reach the 1.5C increase threshold as early as 2030, it’s heartbreaking. It’sat those times that I am interviewed and asked for my opinion. Sometimes I feel like I
should just give up. But doing what I do, I cannot be pessimistic.
It’s hard to always stay positive when the predictions facing us are so dire. WheneverI think of giving up though, I think about this old lady from home. She was a victim
of exposure to nuclear radiation. She had multiple miscarriages. Her sister also had
miscarriages and died of cancer. For decades, she spoke about her experiences sothat people wouldn’t forget. If she could do it when there was no global movement
against the nuclear testing, I should be able to do this as there’s a massive climatechange movement today.
Climate change is not only a problem for the Marshall Islands, but one that affects theentire world. No one can escape it. It is relevant to all that live on this earth. I would
like to extend an invitation to come to the Marshall Islands and experience a people
who have lived a beautiful thousand-year old story. We have survived colonialism,
nuclear testing, and we will survive climate change. I know though that we cannot
survive without the help of others, especially our brothers and sisters in Japan. Japanis an archipelago of islands just like the Marshall Islands. Our country offers lessons on
the ways in which Japan’s shoreline and environment will be impacted as well. In theface of climate change, which inevitably impacts us all, I ask that rather than standing
back and watching our sea levels rise, that we all instead rise to meet the challenges
of climate change together.

41

Impact Hero 2019

2500+

Wai Wai Nu
Peace-builder & Activist
After spending seven years as a political prisoner, Wai Wai now
works tirelessly uniting divided ethnic and religious groups inthe country. Her organization, Women's Peace Network, runsa youth center with classes ranging from English language,social science, advocacy, to leadership training. Her
mission is to build peace, justice and social equality throughempowerment, education and advocacy. Wai Wai is a WEF
Young Global Leader and has been recognized by the BBC
and TIME Magazine for her important work.

42

Total Youth who haslearned at Youth
Center in Yangon

400+
Total Girls who haslearned at Schoolin Cox's Bazar

WAI WAI’S STORYPEACEFUL CHILDHOOD IN RAKHINE
I was bor n in 1986 in the Bur mese state of Rakhine, near the
Bangladeshi border. Mosques instead of Buddhist temples adorn
the landscape of this area. In Myanmar, Rakhine has always been
the home to the Muslim community, an ethnic minority called theRohingya - one of the 135 ethnic groups in the country.
Rakhine was a peaceful place to grow up in the late 80s and early90s. My family and I lived in our hometown until I was 8 years old,and I do not recall a single instance of ethnic discrimination fromthat period. My father was a secondary teacher and had many
non-Rohingya friends. We grew up in peace, never hesitating or
refraining out of ethnic concerns.
The situation however started to shift in the early 90s. When my father
became a politician in 1990, he began to sense that the government
would impose discriminatory restrictions on the Rohingya. His biggest
fear was that his own children would be deprived of educational
opportunities if they stayed in Rhakine. So, he decided to bring
the family to Yangon in 1993, hoping to secure our basic rights in
Myanmar’s capital city.
Soon after moving to Yangon, the Burmese government started torestrict Rohingya’s marriage, birth, and travel in Rhakine. It became
increasingly difficult for a Rohingya person to marry due to thecomplicated procedures and expensive fees involved. If a Rohingya
couple had more than two children in Rhakine, they would get
sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison. The Rohingya were
not allowed to leave Rakhine without permission.
Having escaped the new discriminatory impositions in Rhakine, myfamily's lives in the capital were peaceful, thanks to my father's wise
decision to relocate us. For the next ten years, Yangon became
my home. I attended elementary school, secondary school, anduniversity with Burmese schoolmates. Being part of the mainstream
culture, I was never treated as an outsider or an ethnic minority. I
felt no difference in the way my friends and I perceived the world,even though we had different cultural and religious backgrounds.
43

Growing up with many Burmese friends, I couldn’t imagine that one day "they" would
persecute me and my people.
I always felt proud to be Rohingya, perhaps because my father was an active
politician representing the voices of our ethnicity. At the same time, my Rohingya
friends in Yangon didn’t seem to be conscious of their identity. Discrimination against
Rohingya in Yangon was barely palpable, leaving us unaware of the impending
ethnic divide.
At age 18, my life was filled with hope and opportunities as I started college in Yangon
with friends who came from different cultural backgrounds. I was a young curious
college student. I was excited about life. Until one night security forces busted into ourhouse...

SENTENCED TO 17 YEARS WITHOUT A CRIME
One night in 2005, 15 security forces with guns suddenly showed up at our houseto arrest our entire family. It all happened so quickly that I didn’t understand what
happened. We were ar rested because my father was an elected member ofParliament for the political opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. For this single reason,
my father was sentenced to 47 years, with the rest of the family receiving 17 years
each in prison. The trial was held behind closed doors without legal representation. I
was outraged and couldn’t understand why we had to face such injustice. But no one
listened to us. On the night of the arrest, my life as an 18-year-old college student who
enjoyed fashion and nail art was turned upside down.
Imagine the despair I experienced—suddenly arrested, sentenced to 17 years inprison for a crime I didn’t commit, and silenced for any objection. This is how my entire
family started to live behind bars. Prison life was full of horrors. We were sent to oneof the most notorious prisons in Asia called Insein. A total of 2,000 female prisoners
were kept there, with 100-150 women sleeping in a large cell like canned fish. Each of
us was given a tiny, private space of two feet by six feet. We had no access to cleanwater and were only allowed to use a limited amount of water when showering. We
ate soup with no flavor and dirty rice.
For the next seven years, our family was separated. My father was sent to a prison far
away from Yangon. We kept writing letters to each other even though I didn’t have achance to see him after the arrest. My father, through letters, encouraged me to nevergive up on my studies even in prison. Everyday I wished to go back to university tolearn and to be free. Neither was I allowed to study nor work. All I was permitted to do
was to talk to my inmates, most of whom were arrested for prostitution. They continued
to run illicit businesses like gambling and drug-dealing in prison. Since all I had was44

time, I made hundreds and thousands of friends by listening to their life stories. I started
to understand just how challenging life was for women in my country.
Prostitution is illegal in Myanmar. Most workplaces do not hire women with criminal
records. Unable to find stable jobs, former prostitutes fall into the vicious cycle ofresorting to prostitution as the only economic option. Hearing their stories, I cameto believe that these women are not guilty of their own crimes. Rather, they are
the victims of the social system that neglects people in poverty. When a woman
is deprived of a safe environment and education, prostitution is often the only
way for her to survive. They should not be punished for being stripped away of theopportunities that they deserve. In this way, the Insein prison became my university
about life, where I learned firsthand the struggles and despair of marginalized women.
Learning the challenges faced by women in my countr y, I began to aspire toempower women and to create a society where each one of us can live as a dignified
individual. My life as an activist started in prison.

THOUSANDS OF LIFE STORIES INSPIRING MY MISSION
After seven years in prison, I was suddenly freed at the age of 25 in 2012. Myanmar’s
brutal militar y regime had been increasingly under attack by the international
community. Under pressure, the government allowed the human rights NGO Amnesty
International to organize the release of a total of 623 political prisoners including me.
Aung San Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest a year before.
When receiving this life-changing news, I could not believe the words that entered my45

ears. By then, I had already come to terms with my 17-year sentence. I had become
friends with not just inmates, but even the prison workers.
One morning a prison worker who had become my friend came to me with a big
smile. “Wai Wai, I have great news for you! Your name is on the list of amnesty!” Allthree of us - my mother, sister, and I - were on the list. It was rare for an entire family tobe released at the same time. We were both deeply surprised and delighted.
Hearing this news, everybody in the room cried for us in joy. I was so grateful to havesuch compassionate friends. We all cried hugging each other until we were escortedout of the building. Our bonds had become so strong after sharing every minute of
everyday for seven years.
Through my friendship with the women in prison, I discovered two truths, which haveinspired my work. One is the undeniable injustice surrounding women in Myanmar.
For seven years, I asked each woman the reasons for committing her crime. Each oneof their stories shed light on heartbreaking realities. They were deprived of their rights
just because they were women, and the hardships resulting from this discrimination
left them with no alternative but to earn a living illegally. Thus, I became resolute toempower women and change such an unjust system.
The second truth is the value of education. Education serves as a window to the world.
Learning allows people to cultivate not only their intelligence, but also the strengthand confidence to open up their own futures. If the women in prison had access to
education, they would have been able to find opportunities beyond prostitution.
Of all the experiences I endured in prison, the worst was losing my right to education.

46

Without it, I was hopeless. We need education to have hope in our lives.
My yearning for learning however never vanished. After a few years in prison, I wasallowed to bring some English books in my cell. I read these books over and over until
the pages were worn out. Some of my inmates wanted to learn English from me. The
time I spent teaching English to them literally saved me, brought me out of despair.
Providing learning opportunities to those around me gave me hope. My own learning
through that process elevated my soul. This experience anchored my commitment tocreate a society where everyone has hope for and right to education regardless ofclass, ethnicity, and gender.

TRANSLATING MY CONVICTION TO ACTION
But soon I realized that a tragic reality also exists outside of prison.
After my release, I went back to college - what I dreamt of everyday for seven years
in prison. I was full of hope, excited to live a free life in a democratic society. This
however was only in my imagination.
The so-called peaceful democratic society was only available to the political elites
in urban areas. People in rural areas and ethnic minorities in general belonged to areality far from the privileged.
Contrary to my wishful expectations, the government imposed further discriminatory
restrictions against the Rohingya. I was heartbroken to see the media depicting
Rohingya people as dark-skinned, uncivilized intruders. We were unwelcomed
outsiders, even though we have been living in the countr y for generations.
Misperception led to hate and prejudice towards my people.
In just a few months after my release, widespread violence against the Rohingya
ravaged Rhakine. Many were killed, women raped, and countless lost their homes
and fled the country to become refugees.
Muslim school kids were burnt alive and beaten to death in broad daylight. Nationalist
groups targeted not only the Rohingya, but other ethnic minorities as well.
Having spent seven years in prison telling myself that freedom awaits beyond the bars,
I was devastated to face this cruel reality. And I felt compelled to do something about
this situation, to change the social and political narrative around the Rohingya.
But exactly how to go about this was a question. A new organization catering to only
Rohingya people would be deemed as an anti-government force. So I decided to act
on my mission: to create an equitable, peaceful society by empowering women andminorities. This is how I came to found the Women's Peace Network in 2012, less than a47

year after my release.
A new entity for women’s social advancement was less politically sensitive andallowed me to support vulnerable communities. As its first set of activities, we taught
English to Rohingya and Muslim students in Yangon and provided vocational training
to women. Having taught English in prison, I especially felt the need to improve English
education in my country.
For ethnic minorities, overcoming the language barrier is a must if they wish to learn,
as schools are taught in Burmese and universities in English. An American foundation
sharing the same vision generously covered the organization's operational costs in the
beginning.
Just as I embarked on my new mission, I was finishing up my studies at university.
On the day of my graduation ceremony, something unbelievable happened - anincident that further confirmed the need for my work. In the morning of my graduation
day, I arrived at the university campus only to find out that the administration did nothave a diploma to give me. I was told that I could not obtain a diploma because mycitizenship identity card was not renewed during my time in prison. In fact, 300 othergraduating students were forced into the same situation because the government did
not renew their identity cards. It came as no surprise to me that they were all ethnic
and religious minorities. This was a clear effort by the government to restrict minorities'
access to their citizenship and to undermine their basic rights.
48

Why would anyone want to spend four years in university - to be deprived of a
diploma at the end? I immediately spoke to the university dean to advocate forchanging this absurd policy. Luckily I convinced him, and the university decided toissue diplomas to all the 300 minority students including myself.
This was a defining moment for me. I realized that, even in the face of discrimination, I
have the power to change situations through peaceful negotiations. After graduation,
I became fully committed to leading the Women's Peace Network.
Perhaps I could have gone abroad for a lucrative career and comfortable life. But
I knew I would be fine leading a frugal life in Yangon while staying with my family.
Besides, if I wanted to, I could try earning money for myself later in life. Persecutions
against minorities were happening at that very moment, and there was no waiting toaddress the injustice. This is how I decided to dedicate my life to supporting vulnerable
communities in my country.

BUILDING SOLIDARITY AMONG ALL ETHNIC GROUP
In the beginning, my organization only delivered English and vocational trainings.
Feeling the need for education focused on democracy and inclusivity for our young
generation, I started to teach civic and political leadership classes. This program wasdesigned not only for ethnic minorities and women, but also for Burmese people.
The Myanmar that I knew as a child was devoid of hatred against minorities and full49

of friendliness and compassion towards neighbors regardless of ethnicity. If the young
generation could study together and engage in conversations like the old days,
peaceful coexistence is indeed possible.
I have seen firsthand how our program participants have shifted their perspectives.
For instance, a young boy from a military family with strong prejudice against the
Rohingya and other ethnic minorities changed completely by the program end.
He said that the organization was so welcoming that he felt at home even though theparticipants came from different backgrounds. I strongly believe that it is precisely
these personal transformations that have the potential to inspire communities andentire societies to reimagine concepts such as coexistence and diversity. I took
pride in that my organization was starting to serve as the platform to build trust andsolidarity among the next generation.
Because it was so unusual in Myanmar to see students from different ethnic
backgrounds studying together, my organization star ted to gain internationalrecognition. Just one year after the establishment of Women's Peace Network, I waschosen as one of the 100 Top Women by the BBC in 2014. Since then, I have been
blessed to be the recipient of numerous awards, recognitions, and support. In 2016,
I was able to secure enough funding to establish the Youth Leadership Center in
Yangon. I was also selected to be part of the Young Global Leader program by theWorld Economic Forum in 2018. And I have been given increasingly more opportunities
to speak to large international audiences as well.

50

51

52

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLDMy career may sound successful on paper, but I have been tormented to see theexacerbating situation surrounding the Rohingya people in Myanmar. After theextreme violence against the Rohingya in August 2017, 910,000 people fled theirhomes and became refugees. They are still living in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar on
the Bangladeshi side of border.
In 2018, I traveled to Cox’s Bazar and met many young girls in the refugee camp who
were deprived of their right to education. Witnessing the injustice, I was compelled tostart an educational program for these girls, with the little money I had. The programfor 400 girls is designed to start at dusk, just as the sun sets, because the intention is toprevent girls from engaging in prostitution in the evenings. It's my way of contributing
to the dire situation in the refugee camps so that these girls have greater chances offinding decent jobs when they grow up.
My own family suffered from the escalating violence in Rhakine as well. The village
where my grandmother and cousins lived was attacked. They lost ever ything.
My 90-year old grandmother never left her home village despite all the historicalpersecutions because she loved her own village so dearly. But this time, even mygrandmother asked me, “Wai Wai, please. Take me away from here. Anywhere is fine.”
Seeing my grandmother lose hope and not being able to help her was a devastating
experience.
Resolving the deeply entrenched ethnic and racial conflicts in my country is not aneasy task. The issues surrounding Rohingya refugees are highly complicated. Cox’s
Bazar has become the world’s largest refugee settlement involving stateless Rohingya
people. The list of challenges continues...
Nevertheless, I will not give up on my dream to live in a truly democratic country. If wewere to give up on our hope, the only thing left for us would be despair - just like theyears I spent in prison. I know how that feels.
I want to create a society where every individual is given dignity, freedom of speech,
and basic rights regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. We do not have to wait
for a great leader to emerge and bring us these ideals.
The young generation is our hope to create such a future. If we provide thatgeneration with meaningful education and opportunities, they will become thechange-agents and nation-builders 10, 20, 30 years from now.

53

Impact Hero 2021

1000 Bamboo villages will…

Arief Rabik

Empower

Environmental Activist and Bamboo Advocate
A second-generation bamboo expert striving to
mitigate climate change, land degradation, poverty,
and gender inequalit y through a breakthroughinnovation.

2.1million
farmer households
Restore2 million

Arief Rabik is the son of pioneering environmental activist and hectares of degraded landbamboo crusader Linda Garland, who established the nonprofit Environmental Bamboo Foundation (Yayasan Bambu
Lestari) in 1993. Arief stands as a beacon of change for avast range of environmental and social issues facing ruralcommunities of Indonesia and across the world’s tropical
belt.
54

Reduces16%

of Indonesia's annual
CO2 emissions

ARIEF’S STORYDEFYING THE ODDS SINCE BIRTH
My mother started going into labor with me in Bali when I was still
extremely premature. By the time I was born in Sydney, I weighed amere 900 grams and my lungs were tiny and underdeveloped. Dueto my condition, a doctor advised my mother that I should avoid
all strenuous activities, but true to her fighting spirit, she completely
disregarded the doctor’s advice. As I grew, she took me to the oceanand encouraged me to run and play to my heart’s content. From themoment I was born, my resilient mother refused to acknowledge thatmy physical condition would become a setback. And she was right: I
now surf, hike, climb, and breathe just like anyone else.

WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S A WAY
It was not only my mother who was strong-willed — my father was
too. Both my parents had the strength and courage to escapereligious conservatism, which is how they found themselves in Bali.
They were brought together by what seemed at the time like asimple business partnership, but it turned out to be something muchmore.
My mother was born into an aristocratic Irish-Spanish family that
lived near the border of southern Ireland. She battled a string ofcongenital medical issues, and as she grew up her ability to study
was also impaired by dyslexia. Headstrong and full of curiosity, mymother rebelled against her parents from a young age. After telling
her family that she was going to school, she would often go andspend time with Romani people instead, to listen to stories of theirnomadic lives.
After living in Spain, my mother studied architecture design in Wales.
During her studies she was introduced to Indonesian textiles, andimmediately fell in love with their extraordinary diversity and richcultural heritage. Her passion for the exquisite textiles inspired her totravel to Indonesia to see them with her own eyes. My mother landed55

in Bali in the 1970s, likely as part of one of the first waves of expats who made theirhome on the island. She arrived with a presence and was there to conduct business.
Whenever she encountered problems, she would always look past them and focus on
the solutions.

MY FATHER’S FORTITUDE
When my father was 16, due to a series of unfortunate events, he had to leave homesuddenly. Fortunately, my father’s uncle took pity on him, and put him to work in
his terracotta factory making roof tiles, and also supported him financially to study
traditional law.
My father was a very outspoken individual and at times could even be quite abrasive.
When he arrived 20 minutes late to the final exam of his law degree, the lecturer
refused to allow him to take the exam. And so, my father was one course short ofbeing able to graduate with a traditional law degree. Because of this, he was advised
to join the navy, but six months into this brief adventure, he decided it wasn’t forhim. In the mid-1960s he landed in Bali, where he started his own business building
furniture and refurbishing antiques. He was determined to figure out how to become56successful. Once he set his mind on a goal, he would focus on nothing else until it was
accomplished.

A ROCKY START

When I was two years old, my parents separated. As my brother — who is two years
older than me — was suffering from a serious medical condition, my mother brought
him to the UK for medical treatment, while I remained in Indonesia with my father.
From a young age I was free to roam in the forest, completely immersed in nature, andby the age of seven I had even memorized 67 species of Indonesian bamboo! When I
look back on my early adventures in the lush forests of Bali, I can see that they sparked
my lifelong passion for bamboo.
After my mother returned to Bali we reconnected. She enrolled me in an international
school, but when I was eight, a government policy was introduced requiring all halfIndonesian students to leave the school. In response, my mother asked Robin Lim(Earth Company’s Impact Hero of 2016) to teach us, and Robin opened a small school
nearby.
My mother valued education greatly, and we were sent from country to country
to schools around the world, in the quest to to receive the most holistic education
possible. Before she found the perfect fit, I had tried schools in the cities of Singapore
57and Australia, but they didn’t work out. After one and a half years of searching, she
finally came across a school in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. At this school there
were 200 students in the middle of the majestic mountains, completely surrounded bynature. I immediately fell in love with it and all the activities it offered, such as sports,rock climbing and surfing. I finally felt at peace in nature.

UNIVERSITY OF LIFE
In my early twenties, I traveled to Belgium to work for a bamboo tissue culture lab.
The experience of working professionally with bamboo independently of EBF was amajor personal milestone, which also unlocked a huge network of bamboo scientists
and specialists. It was an immersion into a very technical and scientific sector of thebamboo world, and in many ways galvanized me to adopt that kind of approach.
I then landed a role as a field chemist for USAID to help them build a treatment
wetland. I had studied inorganic environmental chemistry as part of my university
degree, so I worked with a team to design and build a 13-cell treatment wetland,
which we constructed in a village that was home to commercial chicken farms.
Although due to various reasons the project was discontinued, I still learned many
valuable lessons throughout — the biggest of which is that it’s fine to say something isgoing to be sustainable, but then you’re going to have to convince everyone else in
the room, and about 100 other rooms!

BAMBOO BEGINNINGS

58

After my parents separated, my mother poured her energy into starting her bamboo
business. She built 17 bamboo village-based entities across Bali and East and Central
Java, which, once established, exported bamboo to Europe. These villages became
her first touch point of working with bamboo carpenters. They had their fair shareof ups and downs; they struggled with how to make the business sustainable, andgrappled with important aspects such as understanding what the right product,consistency, and quality is, as well as what the actual demand for bamboo looked
like.
In 1992, a devastating earthquake struck the island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara,which killed at least 2,500 people, injured more than 500, and left 90,000 homeless. It
was the biggest and deadliest natural disaster in decades. After the earthquake, mymother started working in Central Flores’ Ngada regency with Romo Mangun, who
is known as the father of modern Indonesian architecture. The earthquake occurredjust after midday and thankfully all school children were already outside their schoolbuildings, but they witnessed the complete collapse of these structures with their own
eyes.
To ensure the children would never have to experience anything like that again, mymother and Romo Mangun designed 350 earthquake-proof structures for schools. My
mother took this example to the World Bank, USAID, and many other organizations
to highlight bamboo’s crucial role in disaster risk reduction and to raise funds for her
projects.
The following year, my mother set up the Environmental Bamboo Foundation, andconducted groundbreaking research into commercial treatment methods against thepowder post beetle, a pest often found in bamboo that is capable of reducing it topowder. Her pioneering work eventually led to making bamboo durable enough to
replace timber as a building material.
In 1995, she worked with some small indigenous communities back in Ngada regency
that share a special relationship with bamboo. In close collaboration with the villages,
she started a program called Plant A Million Bamboos, which thrived over the following
few years. Just as they were able to start using the bamboo, however, the Asian
Financial Crisis hit Indonesia, and eventually the program was forced to shut down. Of
the 1 million bamboo plants that my mother planted as part of the program, roughly
600,000 survived — and these 600,000 bamboo plants are what I used to start my own
bamboo initiative.
59

DISCOVERING RESILIENCE
While finishing up my six years at university, I met Ben Brown, a mangrove forester andsustainable landscape solutions specialist who has become a key figure in my life. Ben
introduced me to the Resilience Alliance, an interdisciplinary network of scientists andpractitioners that analyze the integrated dynamic of people and nature from a socialecological system perspective. Consequently, resilience has become a cornerstone of
my work, and Ben and I embarked on writing a book titled Towards Resilient Bamboo
Forestry, which was published in 2012. The book became a magnet that pulled a lot of
us together and excited us for the process of improving bamboo management. Ben
and I also started a bamboo clump management initiative, which I branded Sustain a
Clump (a clump is a tight cluster of bamboo extending from a small root mass). It was
my first and last attempt at branding!
The idea was sparked when Ben and I started to focus on how, before World War
Two, Indonesia had 20 million hectares of bamboo, which had been reduced to lessthan 2 million hectares. We wanted to convey the message that before we plant
more bamboo, we should focus on managing what we already have. We set forthon developing an in-depth manual on how to achieve this, which was supported byvarious grassroots organizations as well as USAID. This is when the social forestry side of
Sustain a Clump began to take shape.
The business side of learning how to work with communities already had a significant
head start from all the work that my mother had done in the previous years. As time
progressed, she didn’t want to deal with too much of the technical and scientific sideof things, so I began to manage that myself. Although it seemed like we were adapting
to modern needs, we always tried to remind people that the work we were doing withbamboo was leveraging off what had already been achieved by over fifty visionaries.
In 2006, I established Indobamboo, Indonesia’s first sustainable strand-woven bamboo
factory, and built fifteen homes out of bamboo.
Throughout my life, I have always embraced the entrepreneurial spirit that I grew up
around, and try to live by the philosophy of “go go go and don’t look back”. I see
failures as an important part of life, and realize that throughout all these experiences —both positive and negative — I am learning invaluable lessons, and building a networkof people that I know I can turn to for support.

60

TRI HITA KARANA: HARMONY WITH NATURE, GOD, AND HUMANITYAs I reflect on my life, I can see that two things have played the biggest roles in building
and defining my character: my mother, an innovative, creative pioneer, and theBalinese people.
From a young age I witnessed my mother, a foreign female environmental activist, trying
to create change in Indonesia. Her approach and methods were sometimes considered
controversial, and she was frequently knocked down. However, not once did she giveup, but remained spirited and selfless, always giving credit to her counterparts. Rather
than be in the spotlight, she always preferred to play an active role behind the scenes,
linking people together and amplifying younger voices. She loved inspiring people, andwas a fundamentally humble person. It was always her priority to help others before
she helped herself — this kind of behavior would just spill out of her. I try to embody mymother’s spirit in all that I do, and replicate her passion and humbleness.
Just as my character has been deeply defined by my mother and her work, it’s also
been fundamentally shaped by Balinese culture. I closely identify with the Balinese
philosophy of Tri Hita Karana, which was first taught to me by a spiritual leader. It
translates as “three causes of wellbeing”, which are harmony with nature, harmony with
God, and harmony between fellow human beings. As I’ve grown up in Bali and spent61

most of my life here, I’ve become completely immersed in this culture. I believe in all thedeities and visit temples. Despite the fact that others see me as having mixed heritage, I
truly believe myself to be Balinese and embrace much of the culture to this day.

MY HAPPY PLACE
I was never pressured by my parents to choose a certain path in life; they always
encouraged me to choose my own way. My father’s perspective was to try a little bitof everything and see where your passion lies and what attracts you — but then be
decisive about it. On the other hand, my mother was more about feeling the energy of
the universe and letting it guide you, and being present and reading the situation.
Just like when I was young, whenever I am immersed in nature, completely tuned in
and watching the new leaves bloom, I am brought to my happy place. Sometimes I
get wrapped up in the day-to-day of my work, but I quickly realize that I need to beintentional about finding time to go into nature and recharge, physically and mentally.
Both my parents were extreme workaholics and my brother and I didn’t spend muchtime with them throughout our lives. This is a big reason why my relationship with nature
had already started forming from a young age. As I got older I realized that nature was
the only place where I was truly happy, so I ended up spending more and more time
outdoors, whether playing sports or just hiking through the forest. Because of my deep
affinity with nature, it just felt natural to get involved with my mother’s business withbamboo. Sometimes it felt as if I was doing so because I was one of her soldiers, her
guardian, her carrier of the flame. But other times I joined her out of a burning passion tosave the planet and help people understand the benefits of bamboo.
62

After stoically enduring physical pain for many years, my mother was diagnosed withpancreatic cancer in 2000. It came as a shock to her family, friends and community, butnaturally she refused to let her diagnosis dominate her life and remained active in her
work. After seven years of bravely battling cancer, my mother passed away on January
3, 2017, surrounded by her loving family. As her close friend and one of Indonesia’s mostrenowned photographers Rio Helmi commented, “It was the passing of an era thatchanged Ubud, the passing of a legend.”

BAMBOO FOR A BETTER FUTURE
The world’s fastest growing plant, bamboo is as strong as steel and stronger thanconcrete, and is also water, fire, and earthquake-resistant. It’s the world’s mostsustainable building material and a true climate champion: it has a high carbon
sequestration rate, absorbing 50 tons of carbon per hectare per year. It also reduces
deforestation, as it offers farmers a viable alternative to hardwoods. Further, bamboo isa powerful ally in land restoration, as it can grow in degraded soils and on steep slopes,
and can even reduce the impact of landslides. Environmental Bamboo Foundation
focuses strongly on sharing these benefits with as many people as possible, especiallythose in vulnerable and underserved communities.

63

Today, I am leading a program started by EBF in 2015 to establish 1,000 bamboo villages
across Indonesia. The program’s biggest goal is to empower communities — especiallywomen in the communities — to be able to support themselves financially. We also
have the goal of expanding to nine other countries to create 10,000 more bamboo
villages by 2036. For us, bamboo is not just about environmental sustainability — it’s
about enabling people to break the cycle of poverty.
The work I do comes with its own ups and downs, but it’s all part of the process. Over theyears I’ve realized that the least exciting part of the job is when people on my team lose
momentum. When this happens, I often can't help but take it personally, as the projectfor me is rooted in so much passion and emotion.
What brings me the most joy is the process of convincing people of the potential of thebamboo village and seeing the spark ignite in someone else. As well as working with
farmers and figuring out solutions, I find immense value and satisfaction in helping to
unlock the potential of bamboo for farmers and potential farmers. This work of finding
the middle ground makes me think a lot about my mother and what she would havedone, almost bringing me closer to her.

64

THE BAMBOO LEGACY CONTINUESTwenty years into my journey with bamboo, my wife has been a constant help andsupport for the Foundation, while our eldest of three children, who is 12 years old, isdesigning a bamboo surfboard. For us, bamboo is a multigenerational family approach.
Forty years since the start of my mother’s journey with bamboo, our movement has
grown into a vast network that is constantly learning new ways to work collaboratively— because that’s the spirit of everything we do. Collaboration is the foundation of
our approach as that’s what a bamboo village is: collectives working together. It’s thiscollaborative spirit that we want to help others to seed and grow as a movement.
In this context, bamboo is the canvas for a beautiful painting of collaboration andrestoration, because it stitches up the topsoil, it can absorb water, it has all theseamazing social and ecosystem services — and if you use them correctly it becomes thebest canvas in the world. But if you plant the bamboo too close or during the wrong
season, you get all sorts of problems. If you don’t align it with local communities, you get
all sorts of problems. But if you get it right, it’s amazing.

65BE THE CHANGE
YOU WANT TO SEE
IN THE WORLD.

68

EARTH COMPANYTokyo Office
1F, FARO, 2-15-5 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
TEL: +81 03-6753-1558
Bali Office, Mana Earthly Paradise
Banjar Mas, Sayan, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia
EMAIL: contact@earthcompany.info
URL: www.earthcompany.info
Design/ Yesyurun Rudolf Saulus
Special Thanks/Shinobu Nishizawa
DATE OF ISSUE: October 6th, 2022

69