I'm in an upmarket French restaurant on a steamy evening in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh, and Geraldine Cox is watching me eat. It's not a comfortable sensation. "Are you going to finish that off?" she asks suddenly, waving at a dish of fish and noodles between us. I sense, somehow, that Yes isn't the right answer. So I say No.
"This has been a worse time for me than anything that happened before," she says, looking tired. "After spending 25 years dedicated to the children, it really looked as though it might finally all fall in a heap, that I might lose everything. I couldn't sleep. I lost weight. I was off food and I even almost lost my sense of humour, which was pretty tragic. It's been terrible."You might even call it friendly fire.
With staff numbers reduced from 92 to 56, she also switched from a model of residential care with some outreach work, to one that operates many more community programs. As a result, she now helps about 2000 children near her two centres in Kandal, a 40-minute drive south-east of Phnom Penh, and Siem Reap in the north, through education, development, music, sport, computer training and child support programs.
After an hour of working the room, she's introduced to make a formal speech.
She fell in love with Cambodia and couldn't get the country out of her mind when she went on to serve in Bangkok, Manila, Tehran and Washington, before moving to Sydney for a spell with the Chase Manhattan Bank as a personal assistant. She led a glamorous life with fast cars, beautiful clothes and handsome lovers, but felt somehow empty and unfulfilled.
The Cambodian government is supportive, awarding her centres a score of 95 to 96 per cent at their yearly inspections. "The orphans of Cambodia have a good chance with a mother like her," PM Hun Sen has declared. The Australian government, however, has been rather less obliging.
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