Geraldine Cox

Born around 1945[1] in the foothills of Adelaide, Geraldine Cox had two older sisters, Sandra and Marlene, and described herself the "problem child" of the family.[2] Her Father, Norm Cox, was a hard-working milkman and her mother Dorothy Cox was a housewife.[3] Geraldine left school at age 15 and worked in several secretarial jobs in Adelaide. In 1964 she had a year abroad in Europe, and worked as a secretary in a London office.

After moving to Coober Pedy to work as a miner in 1969,[2] Cox began her career at the age of 25 working for the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1970. Her first overseas posting was to Phnom Penh in 1971.[2] The country was in turmoil at the time, with the Vietnam war at the border and American B52 planes dropping bombs.[4] Her following overseas postings included working for Australian Embassies in Manila (1973-1978), Bangkok (1978-1981), Tehran and Washington D.C. After resigning from the government in 1987, Cox worked for eight years at the Chase Manhattan Bank in Sydney.[5]

Cox's original experiences in Cambodia never left her, and while in Australia in 1993, she helped found the Australia Cambodia Foundation, which operates Sunrise Cambodia today. She moved to Cambodia permanently in 1995 where she worked as an Executive Assistant for the Cabinet Director in the Cabinet of the then First Prime Minister of Cambodia, HRH Prince Norodom Ranariddh. In her spare time she assisted Princess Marie, wife of Prince Norodom, in operating and supporting a residential education centre for orphaned children.[6] When a military coup occurred in July/August 1997, Cox realised her position of responsibility in looking after the children of the orphanage, as Princess Marie and her political associates had fled the country to save themselves. Within the orphanage she became widely known to the children as "M’Day Thom" (meaning Big Mum).[6]

Austcare contacted Cox to be the keynote speaker at their October 1997 Refugee Week in Australia.[7] After delivering this speech at the National Press Club in Canberra Geraldine's media profile gained much more public exposure and she began appearing in radio and TV segments to talk about her cause.

In September 2022, at the age of 77, Cox handed leadership of Sunrise Cambodia over to former ABC journalist Tracey Shelton.[1]

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, published in 2000.[8]

Cox is the subject of the documentary My Khmer Heart, made by Australian filmmakers Janine Hosking and Leonie Lowe.[9] This documentary won the Hollywood Film Festival Documentary of the Year Award in 2000 and has since been screened by HBO and Discovery Channels.

After Cox found that she was unable to bear children of her own, she adopted a baby daughter, Lisa, from a Cambodian orphanage in 1971. However she learned early on that Lisa was profoundly mentally and physically ill, suffering from deafness, epilepsy and diabetes. She cared for the child throughout her infancy and early childhood, giving her up after seven years to a full-time care centre in Adelaide.[10]

Theo Palaxides was her boyfriend and long-time partner in Adelaide, and they remain friends after ending their relationship long ago. Major On Kon, a Cambodian fighter pilot, became her romantic partner during her posting in Phnom Penh in 1972. In 1984 Cox married Mahmoud Rastegar, an Iranian national who worked as an IBM project manager. Rastegar relocated with Cox on her posting to Washington, D.C. in 1984, butbthey ended their marriage in 1990.[10]

In January 2001 Cox was made a Member of the Order of Australia "For service to the welfare of children through the establishment, financing and administration of an orphanage in Cambodia."[11] She has also received the Centenary Medal, "For service to the welfare of children in Cambodia".[12]

Other awards and accomplishments include:

• 1999: granted Cambodian citizenship by a royal decree from King Norodom Sihanouk (1999)
• Member of the Humanitarian Affairs Advisory Board, 2014-2016
• Member of the board of Oasis Africa Australia (2013–?)
• 2012: Ernst & Young South Australian Entrepreneur of the Year Award
• Royal Order of Sahametrei Medal awarded by the Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Sen, the most significant award given to foreigners
• 2011: Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop AsiaLink Medal
• Invited by Australia Network (the international cable channel run by the ABC) to become an Ambassador for the promotion of the channel and its programs
• 2006: Named Paul Harris fellow by the Rotary Foundation
• 2000: Circle of Courage Award from Australian charity Youth Off the Streets[10]

• Sunrise Cambodia official website
• Yellow Pages Cambodia: Sunrise Children's Village