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 makes it clear that there is very little that life has to offer that she hasn't grabbed with both hands. She wants to make sure she is never described or perceived as a bleeding-heart do-gooder.

For most of her adult life Geraldine has denied herself nothing and was considered by many to be a passionate hedonist! However, she states that although she has never had less materially than she has in Cambodia, her life has never been happier. Cambodia makes her feel young, strong, stimulated, healthy, challenged, creative, needed and loved.

She moved to Cambodia to live in 1996 and for the next year until the coup in July 1997, Geraldine worked as an Executive Assistant for the Cabinet Director in the Cabinet of the then First Prime Minister of Cambodia, HRH Prince Norodom Ranariddh and administered the orphanage in her spare time.

Geraldine says she is proud and lucky to be an Australian, but Cambodia has stolen her heart and she is happiest when she is there with her children in the orphanage she co-founded in 1993.

Back in Cambodia many more orphans are waiting to be taken in under Sunrise's wings, but more sponsors are required before they can be accepted.

Geraldine says that turning children away is the most difficult part of running the orphanage.

She hopes that corporations will want to help build new lives for these beautiful, but unwanted children, left behind after 30 years of war, by donating to Sunrise.

Will you please help?

Home Is Where The Heart Is
Geraldine spent 12 months writing her first book, Home Is Where The Heart Is and it was published and launched by Pan MacMillan in August 2000.

Below is the blurb that appears on the back cover of the book.

"More than anything, Geraldine Cox wanted to be a mother. Her dream came true; just not in quite the way she had expected. Home Is Where the Heart Is is the deeply moving story of a woman who found her true purpose in caring for Cambodian orphans - the tragic victims of three decades of war and destruction. Geraldine tells with warmth and humour of an extraordinary life that, while it never lacked excitement, sometimes lacked fulfilment before her involvement with the children of Cambodia. Her story begins with her Adelaide girlhood in the 1950s and 1960s, and includes her time working for Foreign Affairs in Cambodia and other overseas postings in the 1970s and 1980s.

However, the place closest to her heart was always Cambodia. In the mid-1990s Geraldine returned there to live. As one of the few foreigners ever to be granted Cambodian citizenship through Royal Decree, Geraldine paints a vivid picture of the country, and of the risks and joys of living there. Most importantly, though, she introduces us to her unforgettable children and shares their stories. Inspiring and uplifting, this is a book about how a mother's love can make a difference, and the surprises life has to offer."

Fifteen thousand copies have been printed and sold and they are no longer available in book shops. A second print run is being done and copies can be ordered through Geraldine, autographed for $30. Please make orders through emailing her with your address at geraldine.cox@sunrisechildrensvillage.org or geraldinecox@bigpond.com.

ABC Australia
The ABC contacted Geraldine in Australia and has asked her to narrate her book, Home Is Where The Heart Is, for CD and cassette sales through their ABC Bookshops nationally. These will also be placed in all the Associations for the Blind in Australia. Geraldine said it was a very emotional experience reading her work out loud…

Cassettes/CDs can be purchased through:

A copy of Geraldine's CV, as at March 2006, can be downloaded using the link below.

CV for Geraldine Cox

The news in November 1999, that King Norodom Sihanouk, by Royal Decree, bestowed Geraldine with Cambodian Citizenship was an unexpected and rare honour. During King Sihanouk's reign, only 4 foreigners have been awarded this special gift - individuals from Belgium, France, Canada and now Geraldine, as the first Australian.

Fundraising speaking tours are planned annually and should anyone be interested in having Geraldine speak publicly about her experiences working in Cambodia with children, please do not hesitate to contact her through her e-mail address, which is geraldine.cox@sunrisechildrensvillage.org.

"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 HANDS THAT ROCK 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…

BIO
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, before resigning and joining the corporate sector in Sydney in 1987 for 8 years. 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 traveling to raise funds for her projects. Her speaking fee is best made as a donation to the tax-deductible Australia Cambodia Foundation Inc.

"Geraldine is one of the world's most warm-hearted people. She is also fearless and tireless and the orphanage, which now exists in politically easier times, was both born and survived entirely as a function of her vigour, generosity and humanity."

Ambassador John Dauth
Australian Mission to the United Nations
New York

"In speaking for the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre in Melbourne 2 years ago, Geraldine Cox took us through the process of establishing the orphanage, Sunrise Children's Village, in a way that was frank, engaging and inspirational. By the end of her talk, there were few in the audience who did not want to get up and volunteer their services immediately in helping her secure the means needed to support her children. Geraldine is also able to place her activities in the context of the dynamic and changing political and social environments of Cambodia, offering a clearer understanding of a country that has experienced so much tragedy."

Prue Holstein
Executive Director
Asia Society AustralAsia Centre

"There are a lot of decisions that she made, by her own admission, could be deemed questionable. You always see the motives that are behind what she's doing and her first priority is the children, you know, in the orphanage and she makes no bones about that, so I think that's really admirable. She's not a saint, she's human. I was just incredibly moved by her and by her work."

Matt Damon
Hollywood

"The heroine at the heart of "My Khmer Heart" is such an astonishing, unpredictable, indomitable force of nature as to be wholly implausible, except for the fact she does exist. Think of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage, then add Mother Teresa, Hanoi Jane Fonda and the unsinkable Molly Brown.”

Kirk Honey Cutt
The Hollywood Reporter’s head critic

"Her commitment in bringing awareness about the plight of these forgotten Cambodian children will never be forgotten."

Danny Glover
Hollywood

“What an outstanding story this is and what an outstanding woman Geraldine is and what an amazing path she has travelled."

Harry M. Miller
Celebrity Agent

'Geraldine Cox has an extraordinary and important story to tell - and she tells it very well indeed.'

Phillip Adams,
ABC Journalist

"SMEC as one of Australia’s leading consulting firms is also proud to be involved with Geraldine and her work in Cambodia setting an example of how Australian businesses can have a human face on the international scene for such a worthwhile project. Geraldine was one of the principal guests at the inauguration of the SMEC Foundation in 2002 and was invited to speak at the recent anniversary of SMEC’s 10 year’s of privatization in 2003 and this high regard in which she is held by SMEC management is a reflection of her never-ending efforts to further her goals for the Orphanage and its children."

Leigh Shalless
Senior Project Manager
Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation

"I have known Geraldine for more than 30 years. She has never taken the easy way out. She has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to endangered Cambodian children and energy levels to match. Her story is one of courage and heartbreak, of hard work and love."

Michael Mann
President
RMIT International University of Vietnam and Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to Cambodia

"Geraldine uses a big heart and openness, combined with subtle tact, to cross borders between cultures, which many peop0loe do not even know exist."

Warren Reed
former ASIS Officer and author of ‘Code Cicada’

"The orphans of Cambodia have a good chance with a mother like her."

Hun Sen
Prime Minister of Cambodia

"She has the courage to believe she can make a difference."

Peter Ustinov
British Actor