Geraldine Cox: 'Big Mum' on search for heir to Cambodian orphanage, welfare empire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFtwbKAEHBg

She is a dynamo who has charmed both a prince and a prime minister into helping her to be 'Mum' to hundreds of orphaned, raped, trafficked, disabled and abandoned children.

But at 70, Geraldine Cox admits that the clock is ticking and she must find a successor to run her orphanage and welfare empire in Cambodia.

"I've been trying for many years to try and find someone to put up their hand," she told Australian Story.

"But it's a big ask. Who wants to live in rural Cambodia with no privacy, hundreds of kids, the pressure of having to raise money, travelling economy, on a small salary?"

With her flaming red hair swept up and held together with a ubiquitous chopstick, this septuagenarian is far from the typical image of an orphanage administrator.

But then very little about Ms Cox is ordinary.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-17/geraldine-cox-searching-for-heir-to-orphanage-welfare-empire/6700850

Brilliant story on Australian Story last night. You can watch by searching for ABC I view and watch if you are interested.

I spoke to her by telephone in Phnom Pehn once. They are very big shoes to fill. A remarkable woman.