January kicked off with a wedding between Sopheap, our Head House Parent Supervisor and Nikolas, a taxi driver who has been bringing visitors to us since 2000! Their relationship grew over the years and everyone who attended the wedding had no doubt about how happy their lives are going to be (photo on page 4).

I visited Sunrise Three in Sihanoukville with Tha, a friend and Reuters cameraman, to shoot a short film that Computershare want to use to send to all their staff. The children loved being on film! I visited many of our older students in the workforce to see how they are faring and also many of our students in both Outreach houses - one for those over 18 until they pass Grade 12 and the other in town for high school graduates who are now attending university or vocational training courses.

The much-loved and popular Louch Tong Eang, returned from Adelaide with a Bachelor's Degree in Film and is active in trying to break into the media industry in Cambodia. We all wish him luck as it is not easy to break into such a field.

In February I spent time with the Adelaide-born Manager of the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, Pieter Van der Hoeven, which will grow over the years he will be in Cambodia.

I then flew to Adelaide to prepare for our very successful Val-entine's Day, “Share the Love” event. A tremendous effort was made by many volunteers to make the evening such a suc-cess. Kudos goes to Ray Martin, Beccy Cole and Ding Produc-tions and all those who donated their time and talent to Sun-rise for the evening. (More on page 7.)

I drove to the Yorke Peninsula to speak at a Rotary Club dinner and was able to spend a few days with close friends in the area.

I returned to the children later in the month in time for another staff wedding, that of Vichet, our Education Manager. Many of the children attended and there was much excitement. The end of the month had me going to the dentist 3 times for much needed attention.

March was a busy time with house guests and Sunrise team meetings and much fun was had by all when we had a "staff against the kids" soccer match. I was interviewed by a journalist from the Christian Science Monitor and the Jerusalem Times and hope they generate some people to sponsor our children.

I had too short a time with the children as I had to fly back to Adelaide for a Board Meeting, but was able to spend time with family and friends, as well as quality time with our Sunrise students at college and university there. I made two presentations to staff at Bendigo Bank and have had some positive feedback. Another Prescott Investments presentation was attended by powerful women in business in South Australia.

Then on to Sydney for a special event: the graduation of Ban Seyha, from the Southern Cross University, where he received a Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management. I was a very proud Mum!

Friends took me to Bowral outside Sydney where I had a very enjoyable and fruitful meeting with Michael Yabsley, a previous fundraiser for the Australian government who shared with me some useful fundraising tips and possibilities. Let's hope they pay off! Warm thanks to you, Michael.

Next stop Melbourne, for an art exhibition by Abbas Mehran, our friend and artist, who visited Sunrise twice and has done superb portraits of many of

the children which will be for sale, with Sunrise receiving a substantial amount of the pro-ceeds. I enjoyed a radio interview with the popular Richard Stubbs from the ABC in Melbourne.

At the end of the month I met with Barbara Dunn from Computershare to talk about Sunrise Three and I had another opportunity to thank Computershare for all they are doing for us.

The deepest of thanks to all our sponsors, old and new, who give generously to Sunrise and give love and hope to all our children.

Love and light, Geraldine Cox AM, “There's a crack in everything -That's how the light gets in…”

News from Geraldine...

Inside this

issue:

Operations Update by Sok San Yi 2

Our Community Development Programs

3

What’s happening in Sunrise 4

Photo Corner 4

Sunrise students in Australia 5

Khmer Corner 5

Bequeathing & Memorial Donations

5

Thanks from Sunrise 6

Fundraising 7

Upcoming events 7

Merchandise 8

Payment /Change of Details Form 8

Volume 14

Issue 1

Geraldine & Adelaide students

The Australia Cambodia Foundation: PO Box 1113, Unley BC 5061, Adelaide South Australia

Tel: +81 8 8340 4230 Fax: +81 8 8340 4920 Email: admin@scv.org.au

Cambodia: Country Director & President: Geraldine Cox AM

Operations Manager: Sok San Yi

Page 2

It has been very busy within the last few months with new activities and events and meaningful progress for the Com-munity-Based Support programs of both Sunrise One and Two while our Residen-tial Care, Education and Case Manage-ment program targets have also been significantly achieved.

Following our first annual Achievement and Challenges Review workshop, we are really satisfied with our outcomes which positively impact on hundreds of disad-vantaged and vulnerable children’s lives in Cambodia. We also identified some challenges and difficulties encountered which need to be improved in 2014.

As staff development is a huge part of our long-term and sustainable institu-tional development, a 3-day training workshop on Child Rights was conducted for all care givers, teachers, drivers and children aged 12-17 at Sunrise One.

Sunrise gardening project Our new Children’s Gardening and Farm Project aims at providing children, mostly from rural areas, with basic agri-culture skills as part of our soft skill and traditional careers development. A group of 25 teenagers (including 13 girls) have committed to this project.

They will experience new farming tech-niques of hydroponics and aquaponics as well as basic principles of waste manage-ment and recycling.

Learning to succeed in life

Nine high school students from Sunrise Two had previously attended training in inter-personal skills in the Operacy program. Now they have conducted training for their friends and Sunrise staff who were inter-ested in developing these skills.

They presented on the characteristics of successful people, why some fail, the keys to success and personal empowerment. A challenging yet rewarding task for them to undertake!

New children’s publication

“The Sunrise Observer”

Another significant achievement has been made by joint efforts of a group of eleven outstanding children with the publication of the first-ever Sunrise children’s newsletter, The Sunrise Observer. So far, three editions have been published and distributed within our Centres, with the much appreciated technical support of Peter Davies.

This is another indication of the significant progress of our children’s IT and English skills. Various information from the Centres and local communities has been included in the Sunrise Observer ranging from sports, education, interviews with children and staff members, donations, important events, people/politics, games and crosswords etc. As an important tool for communication between the children at our Centres, we look forward to many future editions.

A dream comes true...

Sao Sipin, a 22 year-old girl disabled with polio, was born in a very poor fam-ily in Siem Reap Province with six sib-lings. She attended school everyday with her father in an oxen cart, then moved to live with her aunt, one km from the school, but needed to travel by her very old wheelchair.

After finishing high school, Sipin’s par-ents decided to sell their rice field to allow her to study Accounting. They advertised for help in local media and the Provincial Department of Social Af-fairs then referred her to Sunrise in 2012. Although overage, Sipin was wel-comed into our family.

Thanks to Sunrise, after studying Ac-counting at the Mekong University in Siem Reap Branch, and English and Computer skills at the Australian Centre for Education, she has secured a job with Sovannaphumi School as an Ad-ministrator. She has recently received a very special gift of a motorbike for a disabled driver from our generous Cam-bodian sponsor, Her Excellency CHIN Hoing, CEO of BUN World Group Co. Ltd and City of Angkor Hotel in Siem Reap.

Her life has been greatly changed and her dreams have become a reality !

Wheelchair for Khem Ra Thanks to a wonderful donation from a supporter, a new com-fortable wheelchair was purchased to replace the old and bro-ken one for Khem Ra.

We thank you again for your very kind donation.

Operations Report from Sok San YiOperations Report from Sok San YiOperations Report from Sok San YiOperations Report from Sok San Yi

Sunrise Two has made significant progress and expansion of its community-based support program.

We have been working closely with the children’s families to improve living conditions and the livelihood of the parents so that they are able to continue to support their children through to adulthood and currently have 14 community children attend-ing computer skills at Sunrise, three children being trained in traditional dance and music and one attending art class.

We have also provided 90 disadvantaged children with school materials (70 school bags, thousands of notebooks, pens and pencils, 70 English books and 9 bikes). Another major achieve-ment has been the construction of a small house for a family of nine (7 children).

Page 3

Our Community Development ProgramsOur Community Development ProgramsOur Community Development ProgramsOur Community Development Programs

New community house helping over 70 children

Thanks to the generous support of sponsors Terry and Bronwyn Bec of Terry Bec & Associates, an ac-counting firm in Wollongong, an exciting house renovation project has recently been completed.

The 4 children from the Nim family now live at Sunrise as their mother abandoned them and their fa-ther (who earns about $2 per day) has been living in a derelict tin house.

Following investigations by our social workers, and to ensure that the children have a safe, secure home to return to during holidays and when they are able to be reintegrated permanently, a plot of land (6m x 15m) has been purchased and a small house (4m x 6m) constructed.

The completed home will also now be used as a Community House which at least 70 local children will be able to access and enjoy free extra classes in English and Mathematics, as well as counselling. The house will also be available for some parents/guardians of Sunrise children who come to visit their children, providing a place to stay overnight free of charge.

This project has now provided a place where Sunrise children and community children can spend time together to share ideas and information, as well as learn from each other.

The project included land filling and construction of new fencing and a gate, and the home now consists of two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen with sink and stove, a toilet and a bathroom.

Electricity has been connected, providing lighting in all rooms.

A pump well was drilled and installed. As there is no accessible running water, it can be supplied traditionally by using containers to transport water from the well to the kitchen and toilet/bathroom. The pump has been designed for using electric pumping if needed.

Our very sincere thanks to Terry and Bronwyn for this wonderful initia-tive.

Before After

Improving living conditions in Siem Reap

Page 4

A match made at Sunrise Sopheap has been our Supervising House Parent for more than 6 years and Nicolas is a taxi driver who has been bringing visitors to us since 2001 and is considered to be an uncle to the children. Their friendship has grown strong over the years and we are all delighted at this development. Two lovely people who deserve each other.

Some of the children attended the wedding. Srey Mao, Visal and Tong Eang all sang songs with the Khmer band and Rakmey played guitar while Ratana played the drums. How wonderful that they could be a part of the celebrations!

Computer training from KrisEnergy

KrisEnergy, involved in oil and gas exploration and production in Southeast Asia, is supporting many of our students in a substantial information technology program.

Last year, 48 students from Sunrise and 31 students from local communities attended classes in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher and Photoshop.

The students have already expanded their skills to enable them to produce their own Sunrise newsletter! Many thanks to KrisEnergy for this opportunity for our students to develop such important skills for their future employment.

Some KrisEnergy staff members (Hinna, Chris and Diana) recently visited Sunrise to see the computer classes in operation and to give lots of Kinder Surprises to some very excited and appreciative re-cipients.

What’s happening in SunriseWhat’s happening in SunriseWhat’s happening in SunriseWhat’s happening in Sunrise

Photo Photo Photo Photo CornerCornerCornerCorner

International Women’s Day We were proud to celebrate the 103th International Women’s Day, mainly for the Sunrise female staff and the girls, with some special activities including a slow bike riding competition and soccer games be-tween staff and children on March 8th.

It was a wonderfully happy day for all staff and chil-dren.

Graduating to Outreach House

Five more girls recently moved to our Outreach House and had a great farewell party but every-one was very tearful.

This marks a new phase in their lives as they learn to be more independent and pursue their chosen careers and interests.

Vichet’s wedding Van Vichet, our dearly loved Education Manager, wed beautiful Rin Linna in a tra-ditional Khmer wedding ceremony.

Vichet is instrumental in counselling our children to prepare them for life after sunrise and help them choose which university degrees or vocational train-ing they will follow.

We wish them all the best for their future together.

Supporter Pat Blamey getting (or giving) a

workout!

Khmer Proverb

Know-how doesn’t achieve as

much as willingness.

Khmer Khmer Khmer Khmer CornerCornerCornerCorner

Page 5

The kouprey or wild ox was designated the national animal of Cambodia in the 1960’s.

Kouprey have tall, but narrow, bodies, long legs and humped backs. They can be either grey, dark brown or black. The horns of the female are lyre-shaped with antelope-like upward spirals. The horns of the male are wide and arch forward and upward, and they begin to fray at the tips at about three years of age. Both sexes have notched nostrils and long tails. Kouprey live in low, partially forested hills, where they eat mainly grasses. Their preferred habitat is open forest and savannas often near thick monsoon forests. They are diurnal, eating in the open at night and under the forest cover during the day. They usually travel up to 15 km in a night.

There is no captive population of kouprey, and some believe that it may already be extinct as no official sighting in the wild has been made since 1988. (Wikipedia)

Graduation Day for Seyha Proud “mum” Geraldine makes the finishing touches to Seyha’s graduation gown. Seyha graduated with a Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management from Southern Cross University in Sydney.

It was a very exciting time for Seyha and Geraldine to realise the culmination of his years of hard work and dedication.

Seyha is a very directed and hard-working young man, using the skills he has acquired during his training and part-time work experiences to set up a small café, Café Moxon in Punchbowl, a suburb of Sydney. Currently it caters mainly for breakfast and lunch needs of the local light industry workers, but Seyha does have his sights on expanding his market.

His command of the details of his business are impressive: he understands ordering, managing suppliers, knowing his customers, margins and turnovers. Originally Seyha volunteered at Café Moxon where the owner helped him learn about the café business. When the owner decided to sell, Seyha had saved sufficient funds from two part time jobs for half the value, and his girlfriend and her mother assisted with the purchase. All three of them work in the business for 5 1/2 days per week, al-though Seyha continues to work three shifts in the front office at Coogee Hotel as well.

Seyha also hopes to work in the finance department of the hotel and plans to undertake a Di-ploma in Accountancy so that he can get on top of the financial aspects of a larger business. He plans to earn enough from the café and the hotel to open a classic Café in Phnom Penh. When that is running well he's going to look for international trade opportunities between Cambodia and Australia. We wish you luck, Seyha. Sunrise student, Bun Ly, has recently achieved his law degree and is working as a paralegal for the biggest law firm in Cambodia.

Another Sunrise graduate, Narith, from the Australian Cordon Bleu International Hotel Training School, has been employed by the Raffles Royal Hotel in Phnom Penh as a front desk supervisor.

Both boys are earning well beyond the normal Cambodian salaries.

Goes to show what opportunity, love, study and ambition can achieve.

Sunrise students in AustraliaSunrise students in AustraliaSunrise students in AustraliaSunrise students in Australia

A Bequest is a gift made in your will to individuals, companies, associations or charities and may be as simple as adding a Codicil to your existing will. Full capital gains tax relief may be available to your estate for bequests made to certain charities, including Sunrise Children’s Villages.

For more information please see our website: http://www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org/bequeathing/

A special way to honour the memory of a loved one is to encourage your relatives and friends to make a gift in lieu of giving flowers. A Memorial Donation to Sunrise Children’s Villages in Cambodia is a thoughtful way to remember someone.

For more information, please see our website: http://www.sunrisechildrensvillage.org/memorial-giving/

Bequeathing and Memorial DonationsBequeathing and Memorial DonationsBequeathing and Memorial DonationsBequeathing and Memorial Donations

Sunrise students in CambodiaSunrise students in CambodiaSunrise students in CambodiaSunrise students in Cambodia

Page 6

Thanks also to Ashley Collins Ashley Collins has become one of the most

successful living female contemporary artists

in the world. Having had her own years of

homelessness, of sleeping on concrete floors

and relying on the generosity of strangers,

Ashley Collins is now using the success and

celebrity of her art to give back on a large

scale to those in need worldwide.

Ashley supports many groups, one being Sun-

rise and she visits and supports us whenever

possible.

Currently she is assisting several of our Out-

reach students who are attending the Univer-

sity of Agriculture in Phnom Penh by providing

room rental and pocket money.

See her incredible art works at

www.ashleycollins.com

Undies from Downunder!

Remember the undies collection by our supporter Kate Reilly from Baraka Training and Management in Townsville?

What excitement there was when 2,400 pairs of undies were up for grabs at Christmas time!

Thanks from SunriseThanks from SunriseThanks from SunriseThanks from Sunrise

Thank you poster

Donny Chien of 1st Choice Events arranged for Christmas cards to be sent to our Sun-rise children and so the children created this lovely poster.

Dear All:

On behalf of all Sunrise Children’s villages I whould like to thank of your New Year and Christmas cards.

While we were reading we smiled to the world, We were very excited when we got your letters with best wishes for all of us.

I wish your all the best and enjoy with your study and work. Good luck!

Information Technology gifts

Thanks to an Australian donor, all older children in Sunrise One and Two have been given a laptop and electronic dictionary, with the younger ones receiving a toy computer. This wonderful donation will play an important role in connecting our children to the world’s modern learning environment and developing their computer skills. This donor has also provided a new generator, new sleeping ma-terials for Sunrise Two children and full medical check-ups and treatment for all our children, care givers and cooks of both centres.

Dream Land and Pizza With generous support from one of our regular sponsors, Mark Dennis, Sunrise One enjoyed a special tour to the

most popular children’s enter-tainment place in Phnom Penh, “Dream Land”, where all children enjoyed the choices of games, ranging from playground for the small children to tween twister for the teenagers on January 7th.

A special lunch with pizza was also provided at Pizza World Company after the fun.

Many thanks Mark!

The Helping Foundation

A generous donation from The Helping Founda-tion has supplied our children with 320 new pillows, 30 mattresses and 47 bike helmets which were purchased to replace old and bro-ken ones.

Sincere and heartfelt thanks to the efforts of The Helping Foundation, and to Mike Gurry of Western Australia who co-ordinated the dona-tion.

Siv Lin and Family:

Our long-term sponsor, Siv Lin, visited Sun-rise with her family on February 20th. She kindly brought 110 bottles of head lice solu-tion, plus other materials for Sunrise.

During her visit, she was able to spend time meeting and talking to her sponsored child, Sievheang and her siblings.

“Share the Love” -

February 14th, 2014 Valentine’s Day was a very special time this year with our exciting fundraising event at the InterContinental Hotel in Adelaide.

Hosted by Ray Martin, two of our students studying in Adelaide (Sokneoun and Visal) told their emotional stories of how their lives have changed by the caring and love they have re-ceived from Geraldine and Sunrise. Visal also entertained with a wonderful rendition of ”Hallelujah”.

Thanks to the support of our talented perform-ers and musicians and volunteers on the eve-ning.

Everyday Hero

A great way to do fundraising for Sunrise is to register on Everyday Hero for any events you may wish to participate in (eg fun run, weight loss challenge). As a participating Hero, you can choose your own charity to raise funds for. It is very simple to register.

Following is a brief description of upcoming events where all participating Heroes can choose Sunrise to raise funds for.

Brisbane Times City2South Westpac Run: Sunday June 15, 2014 A new 5km course has been introduced for 2014; the perfect distance for new runners who are looking to challenge themselves. The existing 14km course will take participants from the Botanic Gardens, along Coronation Drive, through the University of Queensland and back through Highgate "Heartbreak" Hill.

For more information, go to: Brisbane Times City2South Westpac Run http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/city2south2014

WA Today City2Swan Westpac Run: Sunday July 13, 2014 Perth's newest running event will take place for the very first time on Sunday, July 13. The event provides an oppor-tunity for everyone to get involved, from serious runners to joggers, pushers and walkers and allows entrants to see the iconic sights of Perth.

For more information go to: WA Today City2Swan Westpac Run http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/city2swan2014

The Age Run Melbourne: Sunday July 27, 2014 This year’s options are the 5 km walk/run, a 10km run or a half-marathon challenge with the introduction of a new 3km Kids run*. *Note the 3km Kids Run will take place on Saturday, 26 July 2014.

For more information go to: The Age Run Melbourne http://runmelbourne.everydayhero.com.au/event/runmelbourne2014

The Sun-Herald City2Surf: Sunday August 10, 2014 Presented by Westpac, this is not just Sydney’s favourite sporting event, it is the world’s largest run and is taking place on August 10, 2014. Since 1971 Sydneysiders have been joined by participants from all over the world, elite athletes rubbing shoulders with locals to run, walk or watch the 14km race from Hyde Park in Sydney’s CBD to the finish at spectacular Bondi Beach.

For more information go to: The Sun-Herald city2Surf http://city2surf.everydayhero.com.au/event/city2surf2014

Sunshine Coast Marathon, 2014 Sunday August 31, 2014 One of Australia's most loved running festivals, the 7 Sunshine Coast Marathon, is set to be bigger and better in 2014 with a new look beachfront course and more runners than ever before.

In its third year, 7SCM will again deliver a flat, fast and scenic course so you can achieve your goal, no matter what your ability. Whether you're an elite athlete testing the legs

and chasing down prize money, an age grouper looking for an elusive PR, a first time marathoner nervous about making the distance or a beginner wanting to know what the fuss is all about, you can achieve it by running the 7 Sunshine Coast Marathon.

For more information go to: Sunshine Coast Marathon

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/shinecoastmarathon2014

Page 7

To create a fundraiser for Sunrise, go to our website at www.scv.org.au/fundraising

The fundraising guidelines are at www.scv.org.au/fundraising-guidelines

FundraisingFundraisingFundraisingFundraising

Online donation pages can easily be created for Sunrise for many reasons:

• Running for a cause

• Cycling for a cause

• In celebration

• In memory

• It’s my birthday

• Making a difference

• Personal challenge.

See GoFundraise for details.

http://www.gofundraise.com.au/

T-Shirts $25.00

Black or white

In adult sizes small,

medium, large

Caps $12.00

One size fits all!

Home is Where the Heart Is $38.00

This book tells the deeply moving story of a woman

who found her true purpose in caring for Cambo-

dian orphans—the tragic victims of three decades of

war and destruction. Geraldine tells with warmth and

humour of an extraordinary life.

My Khmer Heart DVD $22.00

The documentary, My Khmer Heart, won the

Hollywood Film Festival Documentary of the Year

Award in 2000 and it has since been bought

by HBO and Discovery Cable Channel.

Sunrise Gift Cards $12.50

This range of cards would be ideal for Christmas featuring

photography of some of the Sunrise children by long-time

supporter and photographer Tracey Shelton. The cards

show happy times during Tracey’s visit to Sunrise in July

2013 that included a trip to the beach!

They are available in packs of 6 x A6 (105mm x 148mm)

blank gift cards with envelopes (with 6 different images).

Starring Geraldine and the Sunrise kids, it includes:

• Happiness is a day at the beach • Splish splashin’ • Learning artful ways • Victories and celebrations • Love on the shore • Learning to pray

Musicians of Cambodia CD $15.00

A beautiful collection of traditional songs and dance music

expressing stories of life at Sunrise. The CD presents tales

of hope, gratitude and happiness, as well as showcasing the

talents of our children.

Merchandise Order Form Quantity Price Subtotal

Name and delivery address: TOTAL

_______________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________Phone No.:__________________________

Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms / Dr: (Please print)..............................................................................................................

Postal address: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Home phone: ( ) ……………... Business phone: ( ) …………………. Mobile: …………………..

Email: ………………………………………………….

I authorize THE AUSTRALIA CAMBODIA FOUNDATION to charge my credit card as specified below:

My donation: $.................... for Sunrise Children’s Village in: ❏ Phnom Penh ❏ Siem Reap ❏ Sihanoukville

To be allocated to: ❏ Operating expenses ❏ Education ❏ Sponsoring a child

Credit card type: ❏ MASTERCARD ❏ VISA ❏ AMERICAN EXPRESS Enter credit card number:

Expiry date: ………………………... Today’s date: ………………………...

Name on card: ………………………………………… Signature: ……………………………..

❏DIRECT DEPOSIT Australia Cambodia Foundation – SCV Operating A/c BSB 085-005 A/c No. 54 952 3845

❏CHEQUES Payable to: The Australia Cambodia Foundation Inc.

Return the completed form to:

PO Box 1113, Unley BC, South Australia 5061, Fax: +61 (0)8 8340 4920 or Email: admin@scv.org.au

Payment for donations/sponsorships or merchandise orders or changes to your contact, credit card or email details can be made on the following form:

MerchandiseMerchandiseMerchandiseMerchandise

Payment or Change of Details FormPayment or Change of Details FormPayment or Change of Details FormPayment or Change of Details Form

For merchandise purchases, complete the order form and include payment details below. Please note all prices quoted include postage.

Page 8