Geraldine Cox, AM, daughter of a South Australian milkman, joined the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970 and served 18 years in Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Iran and the USA.
In 1995 events in her life found her in Cambodia 25 years after she had left it, working for the First Prime Minister, before the 1997 coup catapulted her into running an orphanage full time. She divides her time between living at Sunrise Children’s Village in Cambodia and travelling to raise funds for her projects.
After resigning from the government in 1987 she worked for 8 years with The Chase Manhattan Bank in Sydney before deciding to live in Cambodia in 1996.
Geraldine’s original experiences in Cambodia never left her and on a return visit in 1993 she became involved in helping an orphaned Cambodian child. From that small beginning Geraldine founded what is now the Sunrise Children’s Villages.
King Norodom Sihanouk bestowed her with full Cambodian Citizenship by Royal Decree in 1999 and she spends half the year with the children and the remainder travelling to raise funds.
After working within the corporate sector for 8 years in sydney, Geraldine could not resist finally moving back to Cambodia, where she now works with over 200 orphans who refer to her as 'Big Mum'.
Pan Macmillan published Geraldine’s autobiography, Home Is Where The Heart Is in 2000 and Hollywood bought the rights to make a feature film based on her book.
The documentary, My Khmer Heart, won the Hollywood Film Festival Documentary of the Year Award in 2000 and has since been bought and screened by HBO and Discovery Cable Channels. Her story has been featured on Australian Television over the last few years on Australian Story, The Sunday Program, This Is Your Life, Four Corners, Today Tonight, The 7.30 Report and 60 Minutes.
§ Geraldine was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000.
§ Geraldine has been appointed to serve on the International Advisory Board of Oasis Africa - www.oasisafrica.net.
§ In November 2006 Geraldine was awarded the Circle of Courage Award from the Australian Charity, Youth Off The Streets.
§ In November 2006 The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International named Geraldine a Paul Harris Fellow in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.
§ In June 2007, Australia Network, the cable television channel screened in 41 countries, invited Geraldine to be one of their Ambassadors, where she will promote the channel and its programs.
PRESENTATIONS
"A DIFFERENT KIND OF WEALTH”
Geraldine speaks about the comparisons between her life of excess and glamour in the Australian Diplomatic Corps and the corporate sector in Sydney, spanning 26 years of hedonism and her life now in Cambodia, living in an orphanage caring for more than 200 orphans and disadvantaged children. She will take you on a ride of highs and lows, telling the tragic stories of the children in her care and how some of them rise above their origins to commence lives of independence and dignity and those that do not. She will describe the war and armed violence she and the children have lived through and survived, to the extent that she has been bestowed with Cambodian Citizenship by King Norodom Sihanouk and calls her previous sworn enemy, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, her Brother…
“THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE"
Geraldine speaks about the indomitable spirit of the women of Cambodia from all levels of the society who, against all odds, battle to keep their children by their side, despite abandonment by their men, neglect by their government, and abuse by an often uncaring and ignorant population. She describes the valiant efforts made by many returned Cambodian women from western countries, determined to make a difference in Cambodia and how they struggle with the knowledge that what they have learned often can not be accepted or applied to present-day Cambodia. She will tell you stories of brave women who risk their lives saving children who have been trafficked into prostitution and child labour. She will describe for you the face and soul of today’s Cambodian women, who are shrugging off the cloak of their post-traumatic stress disorders from the legacy of 30 years of civil war, genocide and foreign occupation, in an effort to make the future for their children full of hope, possibilities and achievable dreams…
“COMING OUT OF THE MIST”
Geraldine speaks about modern-day Cambodia and all the issues facing it. She gives a thumbnail sketch of what Cambodia has suffered over the last 100 years and what is being done to drag the country into the 21st century. She addresses the problems of corruption, drug smuggling, HIV AIDS, deforestation, arms dealing, the state of the new Norodom Monarchy, the strength of the present government and its opposition, the obstacles in the way of foreign investment and the challenges for the tourism industry. She explains the huge problems in the fields of health and education and what is being done to improve conditions and how, most of all, why she is optimistic that Cambodia is commencing on a journey of solidarity, prosperity and peace never experienced before in its history…
‘’SCHOOL IS JUST A DREAM’’
Geraldine speaks about the vast disparities between the education opportunities enjoyed by children in western countries compared to the pitiful state of the Cambodian education system. Her talk is aimed at students of all ages to appreciate and value what so many of them take for granted in their schools and from their teachers. She talks about the plight of abandoned street children who do not even dream of ever going to a school, or sleeping in a clean bed, or having access to clean drinking water. She talks about schools with no desks, no cafeterias, no playing fields, certainly no computers and often without qualified teachers.
In Australia she has been invited to speak at:
National Press Club, Canberra
South Australian Press Club, Adelaide
The Sydney Institute, Sydney
Parliamentary Sub Committee on Human Rights, Canberra
Parliamentary Sub Committee on Cambodia, Canberra
The Asia Society, Melbourne
University of Sydney, International School of Public Health
Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Adelaide
Women of the Year, Adelaide
International Women’s Day, Gold Coast
Queen Adelaide Club, Adelaide
Lyceum Club, Adelaide
Women Chiefs of Enterprise, Adelaide
Bennelong Institute
National Conference of Certified Practising Accountants, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne
InvestorInfo’s Women, Wealth and Success, Sydney
Women in Finance, Sydney
Global Spirited Women, Gold Coast
Women in Superannuation, Sydney
Victorian Chapter of Members of the Order of Australia
Catalyst Network, Sydney
National Civics & Citizenship Forum, Canberra
Melbourne University’s Asia Link
Serious Women’s Business Conference, Melbourne
Halogen Foundation - National Young Leaders Day,
Adelaide and Sydney
State Rotary Conventions
Public and Private Schools throughout Australia
Interdenominational Churches throughout Australia
National and State Radio and Television Interviews
Australian Corporate Boardrooms
In the United States:
Kent State University, Ohio
Albany University, New York
University of San Francisco, California
CNN Television News
NBC Television News
State Radio Interviews
In Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand:
Local Television Networks
Channel News Asia, Cable Television
Korean National MBC Network
Radio Interviews
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