Asialink

Geraldine Cox AM

Geraldine Cox
    


Country Director and President

Australia Cambodia Foundation, Inc
 and
Sunrise Children's Villages in Cambodia
  1. Your first posting in the Australian foreign service was to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 1970. Why did that experience affect you so profoundly?
    I was never a diplomat, something the media seems to want to ignore! I was a secretary who worked for the ambassadors, diplomats, and in the political and defence sections in embassies in Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand, Iran and America. At the age of 25 and coming from a background of peace and stability in Australia, finding myself in the war zone that Cambodia was in 1970, changed me for the rest of my life. I saw suffering up close and personal for the first time. I saw the indefatigable spirit of the Khmer people to accept and overcome terrible tragedy, pain and loss. I was made very aware of my own personal fears and failings. I saw great courage and was over-awed by it.
     
  2. Please introduce the formation of and philosophy of Sunrise Children’s Villages.
    Since Sunrise was established in 1994 we strive to care for orphaned and disadvantaged children in Cambodia and aim to have each child reach their full potential to prepare them for life where they can contribute towards making their country a better place. Our community development programs planned for 2012 and beyond, will assist poor families keep their children, by Sunrise setting up the parents in jobs and small business to keep the family together.  We are proud of our education program, which today has 9 exceptional students studying in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney.
       
  3. In 2000 you were bestowed with full Cambodian Citizenship by Royal Decree. What is the most important lesson you have learnt from your time in Cambodia?
    I have learned not to waste my precious energy on worrying about things I cannot change. I cannot save the world, but I can change the lives of children whose fate it is to walk through our Sunrise gates. I have also learned not to judge people by western standards without knowledge of what they have lived through. Cambodia has taught me how incredibly lucky I was to have been born in a country like Australia.

  4. How can Australia make a stronger contribution to building positive relations with the Asian region?
    Through educational and health aid programs, training in agricultural and infrastructure fields and encouraging the business community to take a few risks like ANZ Bank has done to its great credit.

  5. You are the 2011 Dunlop Asia Medallist. How is the legacy of Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop significant to you?
    To be recognized by Asialink in this way is hugely beneficial to me in my fundraising efforts, which are ongoing and never ending. To be shown this kind of respect I hope will attract people and corporations who have an interest in improving life for those less fortunate in Cambodia, to stand up and be donors to Sunrise and all that we do. To be on the same list of luminaries of previous recipients is somewhat embarrassing, as my achievements are miniscule in comparison. In my reading of the life of Weary, it saddens me to know that there was unlikely to be anyone of his ilk at the side of sick and dying soldiers in the war in Cambodia. When they made him, they broke the mold.
     

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