ABC 1Monday, 05 May 2008
This week on Talking Heads, Peter Thompson chats with Geraldine Cox AM, the President, Director and 'Big Mum' of the Sunrise Village Orphanages in Cambodia.
Geraldine's life reads like a thick airport paperback - war zones, exotic locations, diplomatic cocktail parties, lots of men, love, prostitutes and sex, a bloody coup, adoption (multiple efforts), teenage rebellion, hedonism and selflessness, meetings with kings, generals and prime ministers. She could be described as part sinner, part saint. She's done it all and tells it with an extraordinary frankness.
Through her Sunrise Village Orphanages, Geraldine cares for hundreds of children. But she once enjoyed a champagne lifestyle with the diplomatic service. She had two mink coats and her life was exciting and full. During this time she was consumed by an inability to have children.
At one stage Geraldine hired Thai prostitutes in a desperate attempt to conceive. Eventually she was able to adopt a Cambodian girl, whom she named Lisa, but who turned out to be profoundly disabled. After seven difficult years with Lisa, Geraldine found herself on the brink of taking her own and her daughter's life.
"Why couldn't I have a child whose life I could make a difference to? In evaluating this over the years, I really think that Lisa's role in her life, if it's been anything; it's been to lead me back to other children where I could make a difference."
There are currently two Sunrise children's villages. Sunrise 1, about 20 km outside Phnom Penh houses 130 children. Sunrise Angkor Children's Orphanage in Siem Reap houses a further 80. A further complex in Sihanoukville is under construction.
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