Her name is Geraldine Cox. This incredible woman who devotes her life to caring for orphaned children in Cambodia is now ill with Breast Cancer. It’s an illness that heavily affected my childhood and to know that a person such as Geraldine Cox is sick breaks my heart.
Here is some info about her. Please take the time to view the link and read about her.
http://www.geraldinecox.org/
About Geraldine
Geraldine Cox started her career with the Australian Department of Foreign affairs at the age of 25 in 1970 with her first posting to the Embassy in Phnom Penh, when the Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia. There she lived a life of privilege under the diplomatic umbrella, while hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were suffering in unbelievably deprived living conditions as they fled the countryside to the city, to escape the provincial bombing by the Americans. For the milkman's daughter from Adelaide this had a lasting impact which she carried in her heart throughout her other postings to the Philippines (5 years), Thailand (3 years), Iran (3 years) and finally America (3 years) in the Embassy in Washington DC, before returning to Australia in 1987.
Geraldine Cox (born 1945) is president and operator of the Sunrise Children's Village orphanage in the province of Kandal, in Cambodia. She is the only Australian to have been granted Cambodian citizenship by a royal decree from King Norodom Sihanouk.
Originally from Adelaide, Geraldine Cox was posted to Phnom Penh by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970. While in Australia in 1993, Cox helped found the Australia Cambodia Foundation, which operates the Sunrise Children's Village. She moved to Cambodia permanently in 1996, to live with the orphaned children.
Cox is the author of the book Home is Where the Heart Is, an account of her life and the lives of some of the children she has cared for. She is also the subject of the documentary My Khmer Heart, made by Australian filmmakers Janine Hosking and Leonie Lowe.
Australian of the Year 2010 - State Finalist
Geraldine Cox
Orphanage mother
Geraldine Cox is a determined woman who won’t take no for an answer. Following a visit with a friend to a Cambodian orphanage in 1993, The Australia Cambodia Foundation was established. It has since been renamed the Sunrise Children’s Village, to conjure up visions of a new dawn and a fresh beginning for the orphans and disadvantaged children of Cambodia. Geraldine runs two orphanages and is building a new centre for children suffering from HIV. She spends nine months of the year with the children in Cambodia and the remainder travelling to raise funds.
In 1999, in a Royal Decree, King Norodom Sihanouk bestowed Geraldine with Cambodian citizenship, a rare honour. In 2000, a documentary about Geraldine, called My Khmer Heart, won the Documentary of the Year Award at the Hollywood Film Festival. Affectionately known as ‘Big Mum’, Geraldine’s energy, commitment and joy for life has changed the lives of thousands of Cambodian children.
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